Vigilante
by In Flanders Fields
Summary: The moment twelve-year-old Harry received the letter from the Dursleys demanding that he return home for the Hol's he knew he was in trouble. Rated T for Child Abuse
1. Prologue

**VIGILANTE**

A Potter/Avenger Crossover

 **Disclaimer:** I am also not making any money off of this story so any mistakes are my own. Therefore, I cannot be the owner of the Marvel or Harry Potter universes, _that_ honor goes to their respective creators.

 **Vigilante:**

a member of a self-appointed group of citizens who undertake law enforcement in their community without legal authority, typically because the legal agencies are thought to be inadequate.

A self-appointed doer of justice.

Ⅴ **ΛⅤΛⅤ**

[ **Prologue** ]

The moment twelve-year-old Harry received the letter from the Dursleys demanding that he return home for the Hol's he knew he was in trouble. They never demanded him home for anything, well they _had_ always demanded him to come straight home from primary but never Hogwarts. In fact, Harry was certain they would have been happiest if he never darkened their door again during the summer months.

Harry was almost positive that none of them really knew the exact location of his school, his aunt might since his mother had gone here but Uncle Vernon sure wouldn't have known nor wanted to, and Dudley was too stupid to probably know where Scotland was even if he _was_ looking right at it on the map.

So when Harry got an owl with the letter from his aunt one morning in the earlier part of December he suddenly felt his appetite diminish and he felt mildly nauseous. Not once, had his relatives ever wrote to him, even when he was in the hospital wing at the end of his first year, his relative never expressed a minuscule of concern. And now, for no apparent reason, relatives wrote to him, demanding that he return to Privet Drive without so much as a reason as to why. So, yes, Harry knew that he was in trouble.

 _Boy_ , it began

 _We are going to be in London on the day that school of yours lets out for Christmas. I expect you to be on that train when it departs from wherever in Scotland that school is located at. We will be picking you up sharply at 4 o'clock so if you know what is good for you, you will be waiting for us._

[Signed]

 _Petunia C. Dursley_

"What's wrong Harry?" Asked Hermione while she primly buttered some more toast for her trying to ignore their other friend's slight more atrocious eating habits. Just as Harry pushed what remained of his breakfast away. He had efficiently lost his appetite.

"Yea 'Arry. Whsrong?" Ron parroted around a mouth full of food.

"Er, nothing. Just received a letter from my aunt saying she wanted me home for Christmas." Harry said glumly. He was rather looking forward to spending Christmas at Hogwarts again. What with no more Nicholas Flamel to research over the break he was hoping to spend Christmas relaxing.

Ron started choking forcing Harry to have to give him a couple of whacks on the back while Hermione all but tore the letter from Harry's hand and read it for herself.

"Oh, Harry! Your aunt sounds positively dreadful! She doesn't even mention why she wants you home! Perhaps you can ask Professor Dumbledore if you can stay like you did last year. I am sure he'd let you."

"Yeah Harry!" Ron said for the second time in about as many minutes not even bothering to look at the letter, "Your Aunt wouldn't dare say no if Dumbledore insisted that you had to stay. You know, safety and all."

Harry gave a weak and unconvincing smile recalling how he had begged to stay over the summer and how the headmaster had insisted he spends the summer at his Aunt's. "Thanks, guys, I guess I could ask him after Transfiguration."

Three of them did not speak anymore and finished their breakfast in silence.

Hours later found Harry walking dejectedly back to the Gryffindor Common Room his talk with the Headmaster had proven to be less than what he had hoped and now he was left feeling disappointed and upset.

Dumbledore had tried to persuade Harry into seeing it his way: because his Aunt was his legal guardian, if she wanted him home for the Holidays than there was little he could do. Harry had tried to argue that since Dumbledore was his Magical Guardian he could tell his Aunt that he would be safer here at Hogwarts but Dumbledore had ultimately refused.

"Harry, my boy. I must insist at this time that you go home to your Aunt. I realize that you do not like it there but it will only be for two weeks. Besides, it won't hurt to go back and strengthen the wards."

"But I spent two terms here and they were fine when I went back during the summer!" Harry tried to argue but Dumbledore refused to listen.

Harry was angry. Of course, Dumbledore would insist he go back. He should have known. Actually looking back at it now he wasn't even sure why he approached Dumbledore in the first place. Maybe if he hadn't told anyone then he would've been able to stay. If he didn't get on the Hogwarts Express on the first day of Christmas Holidays then it would be too late by the time it was realized that Harry should have gone home.

Mumbling the password to get into the Common room he was greeted by his anxious friends. "So what'd he say?"

Harry threw himself in a chair and stared into the fire before answering.

"He says I have to go back."  
"But isn't Professor Dumbledore your Magical Guardian?" Hermione, ever the logical one, questioned. "Couldn't he just write to your aunt and say that you would prefer to spend Christmas here at Hogwarts?"  
"I asked him but he said no."  
"Why? Surely even those Muggles must know that if Dumbledore-"  
" _Professor_ Dumbledore," intoned Hermione sharply.

"-says you should stay then you would have to stay here, right?"  
"I guess but he _didn't_ say that I could stay. He said that I had to listen to my Aunt and go home, just because she was my Aunt." Harry said anger and frustration evident in his voice.  
"We'll write to you every day Harry, I promise!" Hermione said with feeling. Ron quickly agreed as he had nothing in mind that could further cheer up his friend.

Harry did not mention that he wouldn't be able to write back as his uncle would lock all his "freaky" stuff in the cupboard.

Ⅴ **ΛⅤΛⅤ**

On the first day of winter holidays after a relatively simple breakfast in comparison to what they had last night, the trio boarded the Hogwarts Express with nearly every other student. During the train ride Hermione and Ron tried their best to keep their friend distracted but even they could only do but so much as the closer the train got to King's Cross the more worried their friend became and the more withdrawn he seemed to get.

In the end, Hermione gave him a brief hug while Ron grasped his shoulder before his two friends eagerly made their way to their loving families animatedly talking about all the wonderful and exciting things that they had been forced to leave out of their letters home.

Harry was left alone standing with his luggage and owl in tow waiting for the Dursley's to come and retrieve him.

Surprisingly he did not have to wait very long as he scanned the crowds for his obese uncle and cousin and thin aunt.

The thinning crowd was still dense enough that other train passengers had to move out of Vernon's way to let him through, but his relatives were not a sight he could miss.

If Harry wasn't overcome with fear at the murderous look on his uncle's face he would have snickered. At least, in this sense, he had some sense of self-preservation as he would not be laughing in the face of danger where his uncle was concerned.

It appeared his uncle was about as happy to see Harry as he was them. Harry expected it, of course, but still could not understand why they had insisted on him coming back to Privet Drive for Christmas. Maybe they needed the shed painted and decided that it could not wait until the summer. Merlin forbid anything of theirs was in less than pristine condition.

"Well, hurry up boy, I haven't got all day!" barked his uncle drawing some startled glances and frowns from other people in the station their way.

One woman with a child, Harry only vaguely recognized as a first year, looked like she had half the mind to approach but didn't, only clutching the girl closer. She did keep one eye on his uncle though as he roughly grabbed Harry the scruff of his collar and pulled him up.

Harry gave her an apologetic smile hoping to convey that he was used to it and to not intervene. She frowned but still stayed a distance away although Harry saw her reaching for her phone. She must've been a muggle then, Harry realized.

"Move I said! I refuse to be late for the bloody flight because of you. What are you deaf now as well as worthless?" And roughly pushed the boy sending him stumbling and his owl hooting with indignation while Vernon to chuckle gleefully at the scene before him before walking lazily around him back to where his wife and son waited. Mrs. Dursley was looking at the boy in contempt no doubt thinking of all the times he had supposedly ruined their perfect little family by his mere existence. Her son who was nearly the size of her husband was round, looked vindictively through his piggy eyes at his younger cousin no doubt planning on making his holiday's yet again a miserable one.

Straining to get his luggage into the boot of the car he finally managed all while being under the watchful gaze of his uncle before being pushed roughly into the car.

Harry wasn't stupid enough to believe that the Dursley's were taking him on vacation, as he had seen their luggage in the boot.

"Come on Boy!" he growled menacingly, spittle flying everywhere including onto Harry and his glasses. He'd have to clean them later "I have already told you I will not have you making us late. I won't tolerate it. No, I won't. Now get on that plane and take a seat before you make us miss our flight."

"You know, you could at least tell me where we're going," Harry mumbled to himself praying that Uncle Vernon wouldn't be able to hear him.

"What was that boy!" Vernon hissed while painfully squeezing his shoulder.  
"Nothing! I didn't say anything."

The oversized lump gave a suspicious look at his nephew before giving a harumph and settled into the seat behind his and Dudley's. Dudley, of course, wanted the outside seat leaving Harry to sit squished between him and the window. At least he could pretend he was playing Quidditch.

The flight was a long and uncomfortable one for Harry as he tried his best to ignore the punches his cousin sent his way in an attempt to take full advantage of Harry being trapped between him and the aeroplane's wall. Harry was sure by the time the plane began to descend he's arm was already beginning to bruise in several places.

When they had finally been able to exit the plane and they had gotten all their luggage from the luggage claim in spite of the odd glances and double takes of the other passengers when Harry went to collect Hedwig. They had almost made it to an awaiting cab when his uncle had a run in the TSA who threatened to detain them when they caught him giving Harry a particularly hard slap upside the head. They had threatened to call CPS too, but because they were visiting from England the security officers eventually let them all go after talking to Harry privately who had refused to tell them anything.

And because Harry refused to give a statement there was little anyone could but let him return to the Dursleys and let them all be on their way. Harry tried to ignore the looks of pity he received from some of the TSA's but it was hard considering there was so many of them and the fact that they were escorting them to a cab.

By the time everyone had settled in the cab with Harry in between his Aunt and Uncle, he felt his uncle's hot breath in his ear as he hissed out another threat to softly for the cab driver to hear.

"Don't mess this up, boy. This is our chance to get rid of you once and for all so don't screw it up. I will do all the talking when we get there you hear me? Don't say a word and keep your head down. I don't want people to see you with my family and hopefully," Vernon gave a hungry smile while patting his pockets "after this, you won't be around my family anymore."

"Yes, sir." Harry's whisper was drowned out by Dudley who had just seen F.A.O. Schwarz and was begging his mum to take him to it.

"Of course Duddikums! Just as soon as we drop the boy off we'll go. But remember we have another plane to catch in the morning. Remember we're going to Hawaii. Aren't you excited!"

Drop him off where? Harry knew that the Dursley's hated his guts, but surely even they didn't hate him so much that they were willing to abandon him in a populous city in a foreign country. He'd never be able to get back to London in time to catch the train, and then his friends would worry.

When the cab slowed in front of yet another skyscraper in the seemingly endless jungle of skyscrapers, Harry peered out the window trying to to get a good look at where they had stopped and to see if there was anyone he could ask for help later on after the Dursley's had left. The only people he saw was hoards of reporters and other people crowded around the front doors and two men in long coats standing at the door.

Stumbling out of the car trying to ignore the grip on his shoulder that was going to likely be bruised by morning the Dursleys and Harry made their way through the throng of reporters and to the door where the two men held them open wide for them. A double door entrance. Although Harry would have liked to pretend that it was 'cause they were important to have a double door entrance, it was probably more of the fact that his uncle and cousin, probably required a double door entrance as they were so wide.

"Welcome to Stark Tower" one of them bided to them as they walked through, which they ignored. Dudley was quiet for once trying to take in everything. With the high ceilings and the huge Christmas trees every some feet wrapped in red and gold garland the place was enormous and with everything so open there was a lot to take in. Harry wondered idly why they were walking into the building, it could be a hotel- a very nice one- but Harry doubted it. To him, it seemed more like an office building, not that he would know much about office buildings or hotels and their likeness.

"Not a word, you got that freak? Not one word had better come out of that mouth of yours or you will be getting it." Whispered Uncle Vernon before leading them to the desk.

"I am in immediate need of speaking to Mr. Stark about a matter of utmost urgency." Vernon said importantly while puffing out his chest.

"I am very sorry sir but Mr. Stark is currently unavailable. If this is about a paternity test then I can have Fitzgerald or Clark take you and your family to see Mr. Stark's personal physician who would be more than happy to run the necessary tests." The woman said without even looking up from her computer typing all the while. Although she said it friendly enough it was clear that the lines were well worn and committed to memory and that she did not appreciate his uncle's tone of voice.

"Now you see here." He said while leaning over the desk. "I am not going to be spending my day waiting around just so some half-cracked, wishy-washy doctor perform some test when I have proof that the fre- _boy_ is his. So I suggest you just take the boy and be done with this whole business."

This warranted the woman to look up from her computer and raise an eyebrow at his brashness while peering at the boy that he must've been referring too. She noticed how one hand clasped firmly on the boy's shoulder and the boy wouldn't look at her keeping his head down the whole time.

A thousand thought were running through Harry's head as he's head involuntarily snapped up. _Paternity test? Father?_ Didn't they know that James Potter had died? They'd told him for the longest time that he'd been drunk when he killed himself and his wife in a wreck.

While Harry had learned that this was not true and had been eager to believe that his parents weren't as bad as the Dursley's would have liked to have made them out to be, Harry could not bring himself to hope, that even for a second, his father might be alive.

"Are you threatening me, sir? Because I will have security escort you and your family out of Stark Tower."

Vernon threw her a menacing glare of his own, "You can't throw me out! I have his son, right here. Now I demand you allow us through to see him!" His uncle growled while jabbing his finger at Harry enunciating each word.

While Uncle Vernon was showing himself Harry chanced a look around. He noticed two men walking briskly towards them. Had security already been called? If so then they must've notified them quickly or been close enough by to hear the commotion and decided to investigate.

"What seems to be the problem here, sir?" One questioned firmly while the other one was assessing the situation.

"This woman here won't allow me to see Mr. Stark. You see, I have his kid and am willing to return him to his father for a price. After all, my wife and I deserve some sort of compensation for keeping the ungrateful brat all these years. I have to work hard to provide my family a good life and I cannot afford to have a freeloader stealing food out of my own son's mouth and from what I understand the boy will be taken care of here. And this woman is refusing to allow us to see him."

It would have been the first considerate thing his uncle had ever said on behalf of his well being but the glint in his uncle's beady eyes told Harry all he needed to know.

"Do you have an appointment?" The man looking speculatively at Harry, with the other one was looking intently at him as if trying to commit his physical appearance to memory. Neither sparing his uncle a glance.

"No. As I was telling the secretary I don't need an appointment. I have proof." Vernon said triumphantly knowing they would want to see the proof for themselves.

"Proof you say? What proof? I am afraid we are going to need a bit more than just your word that this young man is Mr. Stark's son." One man demanded while the other continued to look critically at the skinny boy before weighing in. "All I see is a skinny kid who looks like he could use a couple good meal and an obese child who looks like he could go without a few." He said with a shrug, not overly worried about his uncle's temper.

"I will only show the proof when I talk to Mr. Stark! And I cannot help my nephew is so picky. He doesn't eat anything my wife cooks for him and as for my son, well, he's big boned just like his old man." The rotund man said chuckling thinking he was easing his way into taking control of the situation.

The two men, Clark and Fitzgerald did not seem impressed or amused in the slightest. "Then I am afraid we cannot allow you to see Mr. Stark or any of his associates then. Without showing us viable proof first or if you are not willing to allow the boy to have a paternity test then we have no choice but to escort you, your family and the boy out. If you will kindly follow me."  
"Now hold on a second! I did not travel all this way from London just to be turned down. I refuse to take this boy with my family to Hawaii. He is disruptive enough and cost me a whole plane ticket! I will not have him ruining any more of my holidays and costing me another ticket! No sir, I won't! Have him take the bloody test if that is what it takes to get him away from my family."

The woman behind the desk pressed her lips together firmly typing something rapidly into the computer before nodding at the two men. "Fayge has been notified and will be ready shortly."

"Very well. We shall escort you but I will warn you now, this one time: if at any time you cause a disruption," The man peered sternly at the Brit and each member of his family including the scrawny boy, although his gaze at Harry was was more of a sideways glance, "then I will not hesitate to send you packing. Understood?"

Petunia spoke up for the first time since entering the building "We understand." She said tightly while shooting her husband a look telling him not to push it. She wanted the brat gone as much as he did but if they got kicked out then it was unlikely they would get another chance to get rid of the boy without flat out abandoning him on the streets. So, for now, they would have to put up with the insufferable people and their demands.

With everyone carrying their own suitcases (as unfortunately the boy had his own to carry and couldn't carry any of theirs and they sure didn't want to carry anything of his) the process up to the room set up specifically for paternity test was very slow. The security guards raised an eyebrow at the caged owl but did not say anything, thankfully.

Eventually, one of the security guards showed Harry to a low swivel-like stool in the corner of the room and demanded that he take a seat while the other guard was doing the same to the Dursleys on the other side of the room. For the first time since they exited the taxi, Harry felt he could finally breathe.

He looked everywhere but at his relatives, trying to take in the room and wonder why the woman downstairs had immediately assumed they were here for a paternity test. Did a lot of people come here for a paternity test then? Why did they? Why was the Dursley's so insistent that he was this man's son?

And what would happen if Harry wasn't Mr. Stark's son? What would happen if Harry _was_ Mr. Stark's son?

"The doctor will be in in a moment to get the necessary samples. In the meantime, I suggest you inform us what proof you think you have that has led you to believe that this boy is Mr. Stark's son. As I am afraid we cannot just take your word for it." The man's tone brooked no argument and for once even his uncle had enough sense about him not to further press the matter.

"I uncovered a letter that belonged to my sister saying that she had had an affair with a man named Tony Stark. Unfaithful little witch she was. Unfaithful and a freak. Of course, _I_ wouldn't dream of cheating on _my_ husband, but, of course, _perfect_ little Lily would doing something like that, just for attention, that freak." The woman said spitefully with a haughty sniff as if even after ten years it made her feel like a bigger woman to degrade her sister.

"Be what it may ma'am I am still unclear as to what proof you have that this boy…. What's your name son?" The man directed the last question towards him in a slightly kinder tone.

"Harry. Harry Potter sir." the boy said so softly had the man not been standing practically right beside him he would have never heard.  
"-That Harry here is Mr. Stark's son."

"He is, I tell you!" His aunt insisted. "Just do the test and you'll see. All of you will see that he is the man's son and therefore his responsibility and no longer ours."  
"Ma'am-"

"Dursley" his aunt snapped shrewishly.

"Mrs. Dursley" The man amended, "please rest assured that if his boy here is really Mr. Stark's son then you need not worry about ever seeing him again. Mr. Stark will gladly take on responsibility for the boy and relieve you of that burden as you and your husband put it. Now I believe the doctor is almost ready to get things moving along so if you will..."  
Sure enough, a balding man in his mid-fifties came walking into the room in one hand he carried a small container and the other a wrapped package.

"Now what's this I hear about you folks needing a paternity test." The man who had yet to introduce himself said good-naturedly to the crowd, not seemingly perturbed by the tense atmosphere in the room.

"My nephew," Petunia Dursley jabbing a finger towards Harry making sure to clear any possible misgivings between her son and nephew, "is Mr. Stark's son but since no one here is willing to take mine or my husband's word for it we are submitting to a paternity test on the boy."

Between his aunt and uncle, they must've repeated those lines ten times by now.

"Hmm, very well then." He spoke aloud to the room before turning his attention directly to the black haired boy in front of him. "Why don't we start out by introducing ourselves since I doubt your parents really named you "Nephew"."

"M'name's Harry sir." The twelve-year-old said slightly louder this time, sending a wary glance towards his uncle who was giving him a hard look silently warning him not to screw things up.  
"Well nice to meet you, Harry. Much better name than nephew don't you think? I am Doctor Connor Fayge but please call me Conner, or just Fayge if you want. None of that Doctor stuff, it makes me feel old. Speaking of which, how old are you?" The man said in an attempt to relax the child in front of him. Seeing that Harry wasn't going to relax even after he responded to the question, Connor sighed and began explaining what he'd be doing. "I'm just be doing a couple of quick tests to gather enough DNA samples. Let's see…. first, we'll do the Buccal Swab I think." He muttered to himself softly as he started reaching for the canister. Turning back he took in the boy's apprehensive look, Connor gave Harry a quick smile in an attempt to reassure the child.

"There, there Harry. No need to look quite so frightened. This test, at least, won't hurt a bit, I promise you. All I am going to do is insert this Q-Tip into your mouth and rub it against your cheek. Now if you'll open your mouth a bit for me…"  
Tentatively Harry opened his mouth. "A bit wider than that Harry please, I've got to see what I'm doing. Very good Harry!" the man exclaimed after Harry felt something brush against the inside of his cheek, it must've been the Q-Tip before extracting it and placing it into the container and applying the lid noticing the boy's blush at the praise and his refusal to meet his eye. Connor frowned slightly at the boy's slightly odd behavior. Harry's eyes frequently strayed behind him to his uncle, on occasion Connor himself would glance at the overweight man only to find a permanent scowl on his face.

Making a further attempt to distract the child in front of him, Connor snapped the tourniquet loudly. It worked like a charm and once he had gained Harry's undivided attention he spoke softly and soothingly.

"Now I am going to need you to roll up your sleeve for the next part Harry. I don't really see the necessity in this next one myself, at least at the moment, but your aunt and uncle want to make absolutely certain that we cover all aspects now so there's no dispute later. You'll be fine though. There we go."  
Connor continued softly speaking only loud enough for Harry and the guard not watching the Dursley's to hear.

"This one is simple enough, all I am going to do is tie this tourniquet around your arm just above your elbow and ask you to make a fist for me. It might feel a bit tight but I promise it'll be over soon and I can go and start getting the samples tested. And if things turn out how I hope they do then will get you reunited with your Papa in no time."

Harry watched as the man slipped the rubber piece of material around his bicep and tied a knot. Harry instinctively went to pull away but his wrist was caught gently by the doctor.

"It's all right. I warned you it'd be a bit tight but if you could go ahead and make a tight fist with your hand I can find a vain and draw the blood. I promise afterward I'll take it right off, what do you say Harry?"

Harry said nothing and averted his eyes, wincing at the piercing he felt as the needle was inserted into his skin once the man counted to three. He was so glad needles weren't necessary in the wizarding world.

"Aaand done! See! nothing to it, just like I said. Well, let me just take this off seeing as how we won't be needing it anymore and I'll go and check to see if we can't find ourselves a match." While patting Harry on the knee reassuringly.

Pocketing the vial and disposing of the syringe after placing a cap on it and taking the swabbed sample of Harry's cheek the kind doctor spoke to the rest of the room's occupance.

"It is going to take a couple of hours to run the test and get the results so you are more than welcome to stay here or I am sure these gentlemen wouldn't mind escorting you to get a quick bite to eat. I will, of course, wait for you get back before I share the results with anyone else."  
"What makes you think we are going to be going anywhere?" Vernon challenged while getting out of his seat causing the security guards to shift from foot to foot wanting to nothing more than to toss him out of the building but not having a viable excuse to do so.

"Well, Mr." Connor glanced at one of the men in question,

"Dursley." The man supplied while keeping a close eye on the beefy man waiting for him to step one toe out of line.

"Well Mr. Dursley, seeing as I have just drawn some of your nephew's blood I was just suggesting grabbing a bite to eat as some people find they feel better once they have eaten something. Some people feel squeamish when it comes to blood and eating something can help. While it doesn't appear that this is the case with young Harry here, a bit of food won't harm him since he's a growing boy and all. Besides boys, his age are usually pretty big eaters. I am sure something for your son could be found as well." Connor said while eyeing the other boy with something akin to disgust. It was obvious the other boy was a big eater. Connor wondered if at any point the other boy had ever taken food away from Harry. A boy that size most surely did, perhaps on a daily basis.

"Oh I am sure he'll be all right won't you boy?" The look on his uncle's face dared Harry to disagree with him.

"I am fine. I'm not hungry anyway I had a big breakfast." Harry said softly while breaking his uncle's gaze by looking down at his worn out sneakers. It wasn't exactly a lie but considering it was approaching nine at night it was highly doubtful that any breakfast of any sizable proportion would hold anyone up for that long, much less a growing boy.

"Well if you're sure you're not hungry." He said uncertainty, doubt evident in his tone, while shooting a glance towards one of the men he knew as Clark, (The man gave a slight nod in recognition to what the doctor needed. To which Connor relaxed a fraction.) "then you and your relatives are more than welcome to go back to the lobby and wait. There is a coffee machine and a snack bar should any of you begin to feel hungry then just help yourselves. I will, of course, be down to go over the results of the test once I have received the results."

With that Connor gave Harry's shoulder a gentle squeeze. It was the same shoulder that his uncle had been squeezing so Harry gave a flinch at the unwelcomed touch.

Connor frowned at this before sighing. At this point, there was really nothing he could do until he got the results. He could always contact the local authorities if Harry proved not to be Tony's son, just to get him away from his Aunt and Uncle who clearly wanted nothing more than to be rid of him, it would be well within his duty. But Conner hoped he wouldn't have to. He hoped now, more than ever, that there was a match. Although shy, Conner felt that Harry was a nice boy and a special one at that. Of course, any son of Tony's was bound to be special.

Something was clearly wrong here, Connor just knew it, but he couldn't just go and accuse them of abusing the child no matter how much they appeared to want to get rid of him on suspicion alone. And to get the authorities involved would bound to be a traumatic experience for the boy.

He hoped that the boy would be a match to his boss. It did help that there were some similarities between his boss and the boy but it would take more than just facial similarities to get the child away from his relatives. A lot more sadly.

This was going to be a long couple of hours but he felt better knowing that Clark and Fitzgerald were going to be keeping a sharp eye on the Dursley's and their nephew. If necessary they would intervene should the Uncle become rowdy.

While Connor Fayge was waiting for the lab results he called left a message for Pepper Potts' his bosses assistant, and the CEO of his boss's company.

"Hey Pepper, it's Connor. I am currently running the lab results for another paternity test. Yes I know, they're still coming in- but I think it might actually be a match this time. I seriously hope so, the poor boy cannot be living a happy life where he's at, that much is for sure. Anyway, if you could meet me down in the lobby when I present the results I'd appreciate it. They should be ready in another half-hour or so. I currently have Clark and Fitzgerald keeping an eye on them as I do not like the Uncle character nor do I trust the wife. Anyway, I'd better go and check to see how things are progressing. See you soon."

With that, he ended the message and walked back to the swab sample reading the results.

He was mildly surprised but the surprise was easily outweighed by happiness. It was a match! He legitimately had the proof needed to get Harry away from his relatives. Now he had to just wait for the blood sample come back as a match as he was certain it would.

Around fifteen minutes prior to receiving the last of the results Pepper Potts came walking into the lab.  
"I got your call. So you think you've finally found a match, eh? How much are they wanting?"  
"I don't know, my main concern was easing Harry's fears."

"Fears? Is he afraid of needles?"  
"Needles. His uncle and quite possibly his aunt too. I gather he's afraid of pretty much everything." Connor said with a shrug while turning his attention back to the polymerase chain. It was almost done and from what he could tell it was also showing a 50/50 match in the DNA.

"His uncle?" Pepper said concerned having an idea as to where this conversation was going but hoping she was somehow wrong.

"Yes, when you meet him you'll understand what I mean. The guy's a downright bully."

"A bully or an abuser?"

"Definitely a bully, but he appears the type who would be verbally abusive in the very least sense. I haven't seen so many outward signs of physical abuse but there are some things that concern me. I will, of course, want to check him out completely now that it is proven that he is Tony's son."

"What things? I will need to know so that I can tell Tony when he gets back from saving the city. And what about his aunt?"  
"The wary glances he kept sending his uncle, the flinches when I touched him and other small things that most people would probably ignore but as I am a doctor it's my duty to notice these things and report them. The man pretty much had the poor boy pinned under a glare the whole time I was doing the woman doesn't appear to be as bad as the uncle, but I doubt she truly cares for the boy either. Their son, Harry's cousin, on the other hand… suffers from a different kind of abuse." Connor shook his head sadly, "Overindulgence. That can be almost as bad as neglect or other forms of child abuse. I honestly don't know which is worse at this point. I'd actually be inclined to say, that their son is worse off because at least we can get Harry away from them."

Pepper sighed heavily, "You really think he's being abused don't you?"

"I cannot doubt what I have witnessed, but I don't suppose it really matters now. There is no way Tony's going to let his son stay with them now."

"No, that man is going to want him here with him where he belongs." Pepper said with a slight smile.  
Together the two of them walked in companionable silence towards the lobby. While their work paths did not often cross, both held a mutual respect for the other and had been under Stark's employment long enough to get to know each other well enough. Though thankfully, not too well as their paths only seemed to cross when Tony was sick or injured.

By the time the elevator doors opened a little over two and a half hours after Connor had taken the necessary samples, he found himself in the presence of his boss's son- now having confirmation himself- and the boy's loveless guardians.

"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley may I introduce Mr. Stark's assistant and CEO of Stark Industries, Ms. Potts."  
"Finally! About time I meet someone who can take the boy off of our hands." Said Vernon almost gloatingly.

"Let me guess, the test came back and proved what my wife and I have been saying all along. Well boy, what'd I tell you? I told you, I did. Now, this is all fine and dandy, but before I just allow you to just waltz off with the boy we need to discuss payment."

Pepper had been prepared for this. That was why Connor called her in the first place. It was only natural to assume that the boy's current guardian would want some kind of monetary compensation. Why did you think they had so many paternity tests coming in? So many people wanted a piece of Stark's empire that they were willing to make a fool of themselves by claiming their son, daughter, niece or nephew was the child of Stark. There had never been anything that had even hinted that Stark had a child but once one person claimed Stark of being the father of their child, well the floodgates opened. And when word got out that Tony did actually have a son, who knew how many hundreds of people would make a claim that their child or a relative was another long-lost son or daughter of Tony Stark.

"Nobody mentioned anything about any monetary compensation Mr. Dursley. While I am sure Mr. Stark will be grateful for you opening up your home to his son I do not believe this calls for any monetary compensation do you? Anyone with any heart would want to take in a recently orphaned toddler and ensure his safety, the thought of you doing the right thing should be compensation enough."

"He stole food from my own son he did! I have provided for him for the last ten years and I will not be leaving this place without some compensation for all my wife and I have done for the fre- _boy_! We gave him hot meals, a roof over his head and a bed to sleep in."

"Of course you did Mr. Dursley. That is what guardians do." Pepper said calmly while shooting Connor a look. Fitzgerald inched closer to the man, obviously sensing the man's displeasure. While Clark looked mildly disgusted at the things the man was saying.

"Mr. Stark will be back sometime tomorrow so I would suggest that you come back tomorrow and discuss monetary compensation with him."  
"I just told you I will not be leaving until I get paid for taking him in!"  
"Rest assure, Mr. Dursley, you will get the payment you so adamantly demand, but only Mr. Stark can decide how much he is willing to give you and because you did not set up an appointment beforehand, tomorrow evening will be the earliest he will likely be able to see you."  
"We have a flight to Hawaii tomorrow! I won't cancel my flight just because he cannot meet us now. You work for him, so just give us the ruddy money so that I can take my wife and son to a hotel and we can get some sleep."  
"Tomorrow, Mr. Dursley," Pepper said firmly. "Harry will be staying tonight, and that is final. Come along, dear." Pepper said trying to usher the boy away from his irate uncle with little success.

"He won't be going anywhere with you until I get my hands on that money! He'll be coming back to the hotel with me, my wife and son and-"  
"Mr. Dursley. I urge you to consider what you are implying here-"

"He won't be staying! He's my nephew until I get the money."  
Clark and Fitzgerald took a step closer to Vernon prepared to subdue the man if necessary. While Connor stepped in trying to calm the situation down before it escalated any further.

"With the paternity test complete Mr. Dursley, Harry is no longer your responsibility. He's wellbeing now falls onto his father, Mr. Stark. If you choose to take Harry with you, then we will contact the police file charges, and among the charges will be kidnapping. I can guarantee that your face will the on the cover of every newspaper in America tomorrow- and likely the world- if you leave with the boy now."

"But Mr. Stark isn't here right now is he? You said yourself he wouldn't be back until tomorrow. Until then-"  
"At that point, Mr. Dursley, Harry's safety and wellbeing falls on us as his father's Physician and the company's CEO." Interrupted Connor smoothly, although the man in front of him was starting to get on his last nerve.  
Petunia spoke out at last. "The freak's not worth it Vernon. Just let it go and will be back tomorrow to collect the cash. Take the ungrateful freak. Here! Let his father see what a difficult child he is! And you make sure to tell him: that when he finds out that the boy is more trouble than he's worth, he had better not be calling us up for us to take him back!" She said while pushing the boy towards the two people before turning to grab her purse and making a grab for her carry-on.

"Duddikums, sweetheart, we're leaving now." Petunia called out in a far more kinder tone than she had just been using previously.

Harry glanced warily over at his cousin and sure enough, the boy had all but robbed the snack stand of all its sweets.

"But muuum, I wasn't finished! I'm still eating and I'm _still_ hungry." Dudley whined. Angry at being interrupted.

"Oh sweetheart, of course, you're still hungry, you are a growing boy after all. What about this, you can take that sticky-bun with you and eat it on the way back to the hotel. How does that sound? And then, when we get checked in, we can go get that pizza you wanted earlier."

"Can I take two for the ride?" Dudley asked as his triple chin bounced in tune with every word and chew.

"A fine idea Dudley, why I was just getting ready to suggest that very idea. Come on now son. Let's get out of here." Vernon said while slinging an arm around his son's beefy shoulders.

Harry stayed back and watched the only family he'd ever known leave, luggage in tow, him here with two practical strangers.

The doctor had been kind to him but he didn't really know the man and sure did not know the woman. He looks anxiously between the two.

"Well hello, again Harry. Now that we know who your daddy is, I'd like to introduce you to your papa's right-hand woman, Mrs. Potts." Connor said causing Pepper to roll her eyes.

"Please Harry, call me Pepper. It's wonderful to meet you. Connor told me you haven't had anything since breakfast this morning so why don't we go upstairs and have JARVIS order us something okay?" The woman, Pepper, sounded just about as exhausted as Harry felt.

Ⅴ **ΛⅤΛⅤ**


	2. Chapter One

**Disclaimers:** I am not making any money off of this story so any mistakes are my own. Therefore, I cannot be the owner of the Marvel or Harry Potter universes, that honor goes to their respective creators.

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 **[Chapter One]** That First Morning:

Harry just wasn't having any luck convincing Pepper that he should be allowed to cook. He had promised countless times that he would be careful to not burn the food but still, she had refused stating that she "didn't care that he'd been cooking almost every meal since he was seven. He was too young to be cooking." Her reasons also included that he had other more important responsibilities at the moment, namely enjoying being a kid for once. But how could he enjoy being a kid, when he didn't know how to be a kid? At least, a normal kid.

Finally, after trying countless times to convince her, he resigned to the common area also known as the living room area and settled in front of the fire. He hadn't realized he had fallen asleep until Pepper came walking in with an armload of pizza walking him up in the process.

"Since you weren't sure about what kind of pizza you wanted I just had JARVIS order a bit of everything. Eat what you want. The others will finish it off but don't worry about saving any for them, there's plenty." Pepper smiled at him encouraging him to open a box and pick himself a slice.

Harry reached to open the box on top and discovered that it was just plain cheese. He was okay with that since the Dursleys had never thought to share their pizza with him he was just happy that he was actually able to eat some this time. He didn't care what kind it was as he clearly recalling how good it had smelled from time to time from the cupboard. He was so focused on getting a slice of pizza before they took it away or someone else came and took their share leaving him none, that he failed to notice the man that had walked in behind Pepper.

"Do I smell pizza? Oh hello there, I don't believe we've met before. I'm Dr. Banner but you can call me Bruce. So, what are you doing here kid?"  
Harry just stared at the man unsure how to answer. The way the man said it, it almost sounded as if Harry shouldn't be here. Luckily Pepper noticed his moment's hesitation and answered for him.

"Harry, meet Bruce. Harry is Tony's son. His relatives tried to drop him off just a few hours ago."  
"Nice to meet you, Harry. Tony's son, eh? Did you check to make sure he was really Tony's?"  
"Of course we did. Connor checked and once it was a confirmed match I brought him up here, and ordered pizza." The man shrugged obviously not having a response to that although he did mutter something along the lines of, "just checking."

Louder he said, "Does Tony know?"

"No, not yet. He's due back tomorrow morning and I figured I'd tell him then. If I told him now, he would probably fly back now and skip the rest of his meeting just to meet Harry. I don't think it would such a good idea to overwhelm Harry too much. The poor boy just found out Tony was his dad a few hours ago and I am sure he's exhausted having traveled all the way from London on top of it all."

Harry didn't mention that he had actually traveled from Scotland to London and then from London to New York City and that it had been in New York, specifically Stark Tower that he'd found out that the building's owner was his father.

He was content to let them think what they will.

"What do you mean 'just found out?' Surely they didn't drag him all the way here to Stark Tower from London and then tell him."

Or not.

"Tell who what?" Strolled in another well-muscled man dressed in a shirt that seemed to be at least one size too small as it enhanced his muscles. His presences interrupting whatever answer Pepper might have provided.

"Hey, Cap. Looks like Tony got busy a few years back."  
"Tony's always busy." The man brushed it off flippantly. "And who are we telling?"

"No. I mean Tony got busy a few years back and now has a kid."  
"Tony has a kid? Like legitimately has a kid?" The man referred to previously as Cap, echoed while blinking not unlike Hedwig did sometimes at the unexpected news.

"Mmhmm. How old are you Harry?"

The man rounded on Harry and looked at him as if he'd just dropped out of the sky.  
"Twelve sir."

"Make that twelve years back then. Anyway, Steve, Harry. Harry, Steve. Steve and I are some of your dad's colleagues, we like to call ourselves the Avengers but I am sure you've heard about that."

"Er, sorry, but no, I don't think I have. What are the Avengers?"

The two goggled at him for a moment out of sheer disbelief.

"Good havens Harry! where have you been living? Under a rock? I thought everyone knew of the Avengers. 'Specially after the alien attack and all. Guess I was wrong. Anyway, I suppose your question is more of who are the Avengers, rather than 'what are they'. My alter ego of sorts is Captain America but if you are really Tony's kid then you'll probably be introduced to him soon." Steve said while taking a bite out of a slice of pizza. He didn't seem really bothered by Harry's lack of knowledge rather more surprised.

Harry's lack of reaction when Steve spoke about aliens garnered their approval as well. At least the kid appeared to have an open mind which could be really helpful in the future.

"Well from what I hear he might as well of. He probably would have been better off living under a rock than with his aunt and uncle."  
"Why do you say that? Could they truly not provide for him?" Steve said while looking intently at Harry or perhaps he was looking at the state in which Harry's clothes were in. The former smile of approval wiped from his face.

Harry squirmed under the intense gaze.

Why did everyone think he wasn't being adequately looked after? Everyone here at Stark Tower had been friendly enough to him and had gone out of their way. Even the security guards down in the lobby had stuck around when they probably had more important things to do. As far as Harry was concerned, he was being "properly looked after" even if it was just by the staff of Stark Tower.

As for the state of his clothes well, he'd give them that one. But at least the Dursleys hadn't sent him to the orphanage like they liked to threatened every other week or killed him, not that they had actually tried to kill him so much as the continual reminder that he should have died alongside his parents. That had to count for something right? Even if his life was less than satisfactory by other peoples standards it was better than what it could be.

He didn't always roll with the punches, per se, but he could manage quite well with what life handed, as that was all he had ever done. He'd managed with the Dursley's, he managed at Hogwarts, and he'd manage here. Life was all about survival and he had survived a lot so far in his short life, so he was certain that he could survive whatever insanity being dropped off in a foreign country threw at him. Even if that included Aliens because surely an alien couldn't be as bad as Voldemort. Harry secretly thought that he could pass as an alien, what with his missing nose and flat, pale head.  
"I don't know but his Aunt and Uncle aren't the most loving people out there, from what I heard," Bruce said matter-of-factly while helping himself to a second slice of pizza. Harry wasn't even halfway done with his first trying to savor it as much as possible all the while following the conversation closely. What other guy? Was there more of them? Did Bruce also have an "alter ego?"

"What did you hear?"

"Nothing good. Overheard Janice from the lobby says she'd never been so insulted. The uncle came up to her and demanded to speak to Tony. Practically started yelling at her when she told him that Stark was away. Clark and Fitzgerald had to intervene."

"Perhaps he was just having a bad day? Woke up on the wrong side of the bed? Upset that his nephew's biological father was found? Some people really see their nieces and nephews as their own children you know." Harry refused to look up from his slice of pizza at this comment. Of course, the adults would band together, even if they had never met. How many times had he attempted to trust an adult and they just brush his aunt's and uncle's behavior aside?

"Yeah." Bruce snorted, rolling his eyes before stealing a glancing at Harry. "And that's the reason why we have so many people bringing their children in for a paternity test. But nah, apparently they couldn't wait to be rid of him. Prepared to leave him here with or without a paternity test to prove the kid was Tony's. Just wanted the money."

"And you heard all this from Janice?" The Captain said with a raised eyebrow before continuing a bit softer, possibly so Harry couldn't hear, but he heard it anyway. "Isn't that what they all want? If Stark wasn't a genius, have so much money and a reputation of being a playboy then half of America's population wouldn't becoming forward claiming he's their child's father. 'Course we cannot leave out Great Britain now, since they're starting to come forward too, apparently. Wonder if in a couple months we all find out that Harry has a half-sister from Italy." Louder, Steve spoke now, directing his question to Harry who still refused to meet his eyes. "So Harry how are you liking Stark Tower so far? Pretty neat place your old man has here isn't it?"

"I guess. It's a lot bigger than what I'm used to back at the Dursleys." The confession was an understatement of the century, not that the men in front of him knew that.  
The two men chuckled a bit but it sounded forced. "Yes, I suppose it does take some time to get used to, but you will," Bruce promised.

"Harry?" Pepper said entering the room again. Harry hadn't even noticed she had left again. "If you are finished eating then I think you should run along to bed. Your room is ready now and it's approaching eleven so it's getting late and I am sure you'll want to be well rested when you meet your father tomorrow."  
"I- I haven't done the dishes or anything, ma'am. I can't go to bed without doing the dishes. Please just let me-" Harry started to get worked up, eying the couple of plates and glasses that laid forgotten around the coffee table.  
"No Harry." Pepper said in a tired voice that made Bruce believe she had already had this argument at some point in time earlier. "Don't worry about the dishes. We've got a dishwasher for that. One of us will take the time to load later. Remember what I said earlier about whatever rules your relatives had does not apply here. Tony will make new rules in which you will be expected to follow, but those are for another day. For now, I'll show you to your room. If you need anything throughout the night just ask JARVIS and he will direct you to whatever you need, all right? Don't worry about being a bother, you aren't bothering anyone. This is just as much your home now, as it is everyone else's so please, feel free to make use of everything this building has to offer."

"Yes, ma'am." Harry doubted he would make use of JARVIS or whatever else Pepper was talking about but the woman seemed determined to make him feel welcome.

"Pepper, if you will, Harry." the woman reminded the boy simply before plowing on. "Don't worry about having to be up by a certain time either. Everyone here wakes up at different times so no one is going to mind if you decide to sleep in in the morning. You deserve it after the day you have had. I will make sure to save you breakfast."

"I can cook breakfast. I mean, I always cook for my aunt and uncle and cousin-"

Steve and Bruce couldn't make out any more of Harry's response but it didn't matter. They had heard enough and judging by the green ring around Bruce's eyes it looked like he could barely contain his anger from what he'd heard anyway. If he'd heard the child's response he just might lose his last shred of control.

"What kid thinks he has to do the dishes before he goes to bed and be up to cook for everyone? Don't kids usually try to worm their way out of doing that stuff or has that changed since I was a kid?" Steve said while shaking his head. He appeared to mull over something for a minute before turning somber.

"Hey Bruce, don't you think that the kid is taking all of this rather well? I mean if I was in his shoes, I'd probably be freaking out right about now."

Bruce paused in his eating and seemed to think for a second before putting down his slice of pizza and adopted a serious look and an equally serious tone. "I think the kid's overwhelmed at the moment. From what I gathered, his relatives didn't bother to tell him anything. He probably found out that he had a father in the minutes before they did the paternity test. I doubt his relatives were considerate enough to ask how he was taking all this or even offer to help him come to terms with the news. I don't think he really has had the time to process what's going on."

"So when do you think it'll finally sink in. 'Cause it's going to be like living with a ticking time bomb until he does process and internalize it." Steve was not particularly happy with the fact that the kid had yet to come to terms that he had a father and that he was going to be living with said man rather than his relatives who appeared to be largely unfit to even take care of a child, much less the son of Tony Stark.

"It could be tomorrow or it could be a few days from now. It just depends on the kid. I am most immediately concerned about is how Tony's going to take it. The man can barely remember to keep himself fed, how on earth is he going to remember to feed a kid who looks to be half starved?"

"So you noticed that too then. He barely managed to finish that slice of pizza. Heck, I could eat almost a whole pizza and the kid can barely manage a slice. I was skinny when I was his age, but I wasn't emancipated and I definitely could have eaten more than a slice of pizza. Tony's not going to be pleased at all. Someone messing with his kid like that? Wonder were the kid's mother is at and how she could allow something like this to happen. Regardless, Tony's going to be after blood for this." Steve predicted warily. But Bruce could tell from the expression on the Captain's face, that it wouldn't just be Tony going after the boy's relatives once all of this was said and done.

 **Ⅴ** Λ **Ⅴ** Λ **Ⅴ**

Early the following morning, Harry woke up content in lying there in that ridiculously comfortable bed thinking about the wonderful dream of having a father even if it wasn't James Potter. When he opened his eyes he'd find himself still at Hogwarts in the boy's dormitory. But for now, he was just content laying here thinking about his dream.

"Good morning young sir."  
Harry's eyes snapped open as his eyes darted across the room while trying to get his breathing under control and stop his heart from pounding quite as hard in his chest.

"W-who said that?"  
"JARVIS, young sir."  
"Oh, ah right. Um, good morning to you too sir." Harry said feeling slightly silly at being startled by an automation, and even more so for talking out loud to an inanimate object. If ghost no longer startled him at Hogwarts than he really shouldn't be afraid of some computer that was able to speak for itself, it's just that the ghost didn't tend to venture into the dormitories and start speaking to you the moment you wake. But it was unexpected as had yet to actually see JARVIS unlike the ghost at Hogwarts (unless it was Peeves when he was trying to drop a wastebasket on your head or drop chalk pellets down your robes) but he- or whatever JARVIS was- seemed friendly enough.

With mild reluctance, Harry threw back the covers that were even warmer and softer than those back at Hogwarts, Harry slipped out of bed and walked over to where he vaguely remembered where the bathroom was from the night before.

The bathroom itself was much nicer than any other bathroom he'd ever been in including those at Hogwarts. It had heated floors and towel racks and a shower big enough for at least six other people and with about as many shower heads. And according to Pepper, the shower had a dial that could be adjusted to a certain setting so that the perfect temperature could be "programmed" and so all Harry had to do was turn on the water and the water would heat up to that temperature. There was also a tub that seemed to be just as large and impressive.

After taking a nice warm shower that relaxed his muscles he hadn't even realized were tight, Harry got dressed with the only muggle pair of clothes he had brought and wandered out of his room. Harry wasn't sure just how big the living area was in his father's skyscraper but Pepper had mentioned something about it being multiple floors and had to ask JARVIS how to get to the kitchen after taking a wrong turn. He just hoped to Merlin that he didn't get lost again like he had the first day of class at Hogwarts last year. While no one here would threaten to turn him into a pocket-watch just because he was late in preparing breakfast didn't mean they wouldn't be mad. Harry had learned the hard way several times over, that people were easier to anger when they were hungry and it was best if he did not leave them waiting for long.

Some adults might say differently and say they weren't mad but he didn't know who all he was cooking for or what they liked so he had his task cut out for him. Harry just hoped that no one else was up so that he could cook a bit more leisurely. It was early, but not that early.

Much to Harry's disappointment someone had beaten him up. A man who he had never met before was sitting on the couch watching a TV that would have been Dudley's dream come true.

Harry was actually kind of surprised he hadn't it noticed it last night, as surely he couldn't have been that tired to overlook something that big.

It was huge, that was the only word for it. Oh yes, Dudley would have never moved from it had he been here. Harry gawked at the large screen like Ron and Mr. Weasley would have had they come across anything so muggle.

"This is a surprise I must say. Unexpected...an unexpected but very pleasant surprise."  
Harry almost jumped out of his skin when the man spoke. Harry had thought the man was watching the television and wouldn't have noticed his presences. Why had he let his guard down so much? He hadn't even noticed Pepper or his father's colleagues enter the room last night even when he could have used the excuse of being tired. But this morning he was well rested and he still couldn't manage to keep his guard up. Surely being away from the Dursley's for a few months hadn't messed him up that bad!

Harry just stared at the man who was staring back just as intently. It was as if some impromptu staring contest had suddenly been declared and neither one wanted to admit defeat first by looking away.

Never taking his eyes off him, the man got up from the couch and walked towards Harry until he was within arm's length. Clasping both of Harry's bony shoulders he gave a smug smile before pulling him into a hug. Harry felt his shoulder give a twinge at the man's touch still being a bit sore from his uncle's heavy-handed grasp yesterday.

Not well versed in being on the receiving end of hugs, Harry just let his arms hang down limply by his side while he remained stiff under the embrace. He could not bring himself to return the greeting and so not knowing what to do with himself, the one-sided hug soon became awkward.

"I am sorry, but what, what's a pleasant surprise, sir?" Harry said, his voice cracking embarrassingly in the middle of the question. He was starting to feel slightly overwhelmed- perhaps for the first time since he had come to the realization that he might have a father. The man standing here just made everything come in full circle and now he didn't know what to do or what was expected of him.

He had only meant to get an early start on breakfast so that way Pepper couldn't stop him from trying to repay them for their kindness, not be caught up with a man who apparently gave out hugs as freely as Mrs. Weasley did.

The man didn't respond immediately opting to pull away. The same prideful smirk was still on the older man's face.

"Sit, sit, sit. Here, son." The man ushered a very confused Harry to the couch pushing away some of the pillows so that there was enough room for the two of them before requesting that JARVIS turn down the TV's volume. "To answer your question, you are." The man said only taking his eyes off Harry long enough to sit down beside him and draw him close to his side. If he felt Harry stiffen instinctively, he didn't mention it.  
"I am what sir?" Harry said after he was situated by the man who he held some resemblance for. Could this be his father? Surely he wasn't what this man had referred to being-  
"A pleasant surprise," Tony said as if it should be obvious. As if he liked having Harry around even though they had just met and knew nothing about each other. "I never thought I had a son, never even considered wanting a son, but yet here I am, just recently returned from a business trip only to find that I do indeed have a son and I find that I like it. I like it a lot."

"Oh," Harry said, because really what was he supposed to say? That he had never thought of the possibility of his father being alive until yesterday? And that he wasn't sure if he liked it? Not only because James Potter, the man he had thought to be his father his whole life wasn't, but also because he honestly wasn't sure of what he liked anymore.

"And it is the most pleasant of surprises," Tony concluded.

"So that means you are my…" Harry couldn't bring himself to call the man dad just yet. It felt like a betrayal to James Potter and Harry couldn't betray the man who had sacrificed himself just to give his mum enough time to gather him and run.

"Dad? Father? Giver of life? Yes. Yes, I am." The man said calmly as if this wasn't a shock to him. As if he'd known he was a father long before he had discovered he actually was. Perhaps it was all the false results of the paternity test that had convinced Tony that he might actually become a father one day.

"Well. I have to admit that while this is nice and all but, I don't even know your name kid. My name's Tony, which I am sure you already knew, but I don't believe I know yours. I might be new to this whole father business, but I am not sure that is appropriate for a father to not even know his own son's name." Tony said while poking Harry's stomach teasingly.

Harry tried not to laugh just in case the man was testing his restraint like his uncle sometimes did (in other ways) although a part of Harry really doubted it. There was something about this man. Maybe it was that this was his father. His biological father and people just naturally felt more at ease with their parents. Even so, to be safe it was probably a good idea to keep his guard up a bit longer. It would not hurt him in the end as it was always better to err on the side of caution...

"Harry."

"Harry," Tony said as if he was trying out the name. "Harry." Testing it again to see how he liked it before giving a nod of approval. "I like that. Harry. Very... British."

"Thank you?" Harry wasn't sure if it was meant to be a compliment or not. No one had ever commented on his name before like that. At least his name wasn't Draconis or something weird like that. That didn't even sound British… it sounded... well, kind of outlandish. At least Harry had never met anyone else with that name, not that he really cared to. They would probably be a git too.

"So Harry, how'd you find out that I was your father?" Tony asked while glancing at Harry but turning his attention towards the window to watch the rising sun of a new day when he noticed the boy's growing discomfort. That was the beauty of living so high up. You could see over the tops of many buildings. The sunrise could be rather captivating somedays, so it worked out for him to look at it and allow his son to choose how to word his answer.

"My aunt and uncle told me yesterday that you were my father… er, they said something about reading it in a letter my mum wrote."

"You only found out yesterday? Good lands, your head must be spinning. Why did they wait to tell you yesterday? Surely they had to of known before yesterday."  
"It's kind of a long story," Harry said kind of surprised Tony hadn't asked who his mum was. Maybe he would ask about her later.

"I think I can keep up. It's early and we've got time." Tony tried to convince Harry.

"There's really not much to tell." Harry tried again completely flipping what he had just said.

"Tell me anyway."

"Well we don't really correspond much while I'm away at boarding school, but they wrote to me to tell me that they would be picking me up at the train station as I the boarding school I go to just let out yesterday for Christmas and they took my cousin and me to the airport where we caught a flight over and then they had me take the paternity test and then Pepper ordered me pizza, I went to bed, woke up and met you," Harry said shrugging while looking around the vast room. It was a very much watered down version of the real events, sure, but it was true for the most part. That was all that mattered at the moment.

"That story didn't seem long to me and I am sure you are leaving out some detail but, it doesn't matter. I am just glad you're here kid."

Harry secretly agreed not wanting to mention out loud that his Aunt and Uncle felt the same way.

"I'm glad I am here too," Harry said quietly but Tony still heard it anyway.

"I am guessing that since you only arrived in New York yesterday after school you haven't had the chance to explore it yet. Since it is so early and I don't feel like cooking anything and you look like you could use a good meal or two, what do you say the two of us go out and have a bite to eat. I know a restaurant that'll keep the press away and we can get to know each other a little bit. What do you say?"  
"I was planning on making breakfast, sir."  
"Make breakfast!? Harry, if you start making breakfast Pepper will never let me hear the end of it or you for that matter. Besides, that's what JARVIS is for. We tell him what we want and he orders it for us." Tony said dismissively.

"Er, okay."

"Great! So do you want me to drive or Happy?"

"I'm sorry but-but who's Happy?"  
"Oh goodness, that's right! You haven't meant him yet, well, in that case, Happy will drive so I can introduce you two. Should you ever want to go anywhere and I am not available and he is not with me, Happy, will take you anywhere you would want to go."

"Okay," Harry said uncertainly. Obviously, his dad had to work even though he apparently had a lot of money not unlike his mum and dad...James. But Harry doubted that he'd be asking Happy (if that was even his real name) to drive him around considering he would be returning back to Hogwarts at the end of the Holidays.

"Go and grab your coat then and we will leave. It's pretty cold out there and there is a chance of snow later today. I don't want you to spend your first Christmas with me in bed because you got sick."

Harry looked down embarrassed. This was the part he hated the most, explaining why he didn't have adequate clothes. Of course, Ron could somewhat relate and had almost been as embarrassed as him, as he almost always got hand-me-downs from his older brothers but none of them had ever been quite so worn as the ones he always got, or so large. But that was Ron, his best mate not an adult who was supposed to take care of him now.

"I didn't bring have a coat, sir," Harry said sheepishly even though he had no reason to be considering it was his Aunt and Uncle's responsibility (although primarily his aunt since she was listed as his sole guardian) to provide him with the bare necessities. And while it was true he had a robe coat he usually wore around school, it wasn't like he could wear it here in the muggle world.

"Why ever not? Didn't your Aunt and Uncle ever think to buy you one or pack one for you? Surely they wouldn't expect you to walk around in those rags!" Tony said slightly outraged at the negligence or at the very least oversight. Seeing the apprehensive look on his son's face, and the wary glances he shot his way, Tony tried to force himself to calm down and lower his tone a fraction, his eyes too, softened. "And please call me dad or Tony if you would rather."

Harry didn't respond looking everywhere but at Tony for a few seconds before Tony sighed and said. "I'll have Hogan stop by Bloomingdale's and will get you a coat and whatever else you are lacking after breakfast. We will make a morning out of it. Just you, me and the world." Tony said semi-dramatically trying to lighten the situation a little bit and ease some of the tension the child's shoulders.

Seeing as his humor wasn't having the desired effect Tony sighed before motioning for Harry to follow him to the elevator.

The elevator took them down all the way to a subfloor marked simply as "P", Harry assumed it meant Parking Deck or something as the floor above it was marked with an "L" which probably meant "Lobby" or something of its likeness. Harry remembered that had been the floor he had been on yesterday before they had escorted up to see Connor.

"I'll have Happy turn up the heat when we get in the car and we have heated seats so you shouldn't be cold on the ride there. I will also lend you my coat."  
"But won't you get cold?"

"I'll be fine, kiddo. Happy will pull up as close as he can to the front doors so I won't be out in the cold for long."

"Anyway, Harry meet Harold Hogan, Happy met my son, Harry." Tony introduced from where he sat beside Harry. Harry noticed that the man was large although not nearly as wide around as Uncle Vernon. The man gave a slight smile at Harry through the rearview mirror of the car but said nothing. He hadn't even asked where they wanted to go. Maybe Tony ventured to this restaurant frequently? Or he had sent a text beforehand alerting his driver to where they wanted to go.

The ride itself was spent mostly in silence. Harry opting to look out the window at the passing buildings while Tony occasionally would point out a variety store that he would like to take Harry too.

Because it was early and rush hour was still some time away, the roads were a bit more navigable than had they decided to wait and so they arrived at the restaurant quicker than they normally would have although Harry didn't know any of this.

Tony reaching to pull off his wool coat, carefully draped it around Harry's shoulders frowning at how the coat hung off his child's frame. There was absolutely no extra meat on his son's thin frame.

Stepping out of the Rolls Royce, Tony quickly walked around the car and opened the door for Harry who stepped out. Harry pulled the jacket a bit closer to him to help ward off the cold yet he could not shed the guilty feeling for having taken Tony's coat even if the man had insisted.

Tony ushered Harry inside the restaurant before asking the hostess for a table for two. Harry looked around and noticed the restaurant was not very busy, not that he expected to be at six-thirty in the morning.

"So what do you want to eat?"  
"Dunno," Harry said without even attempting to open the menu to look at it. The few times the Dursley's had been forced to take Harry with them to a restaurant they had always ordered the cheapest thing on the menu for him. If they could have gotten away without ordering anything for him they most certainly would have.

"Open up the menu. Let's see, I am thinking about getting French Toast. Do you like French Toast, Harry?"

"Yes, I mean I have had it once or twice, and I liked it," Harry responded. It wasn't exactly a lie. He had never had it at the Dursley's but they served it on occasion at Hogwarts and he had liked it well enough.

"Then we'll both get French Toast." Tony declared while beaming at Harry. It took Harry a minute to realize why Tony was smiling but Harry was almost positive that Tony was beside himself with happiness. He seemed so content just sitting here with him discussing something so casual as what he wanted to eat.

By the time they placed their orders and gotten their drinks, coffee for Tony and hot cocoa for Harry, the two of them had begun making small talk.

Everything was going well until Tony's phone went off shortly before they got their food.

"Excuse me for a moment, Harry, it's Pepper." He said while taking the device and pressing it against his ear.

Harry smiled politely before taking up picking at the napkin in his lap again.

"Hello, Pepper. Harry and I decided to go out for breakfast-" Tony said in greeting but must have been cut off by his assistant as he spent a minute just listening into the receiver.

"Of course I will. I would love to thank them for keeping my boy safe for me." Another moment of silence.  
"They wanted to do what?" Tony all but cried out while his eye flew up to look at Harry.

Harry flinched back noticing his demeanor changed. He no longer seemed happy. Whatever Pepper had told him had made him upset based on the furious scowl on his face.

"He's a child, my child apparently and their nephew! I want to meet them this afternoon! Clear my schedule of everything if you have too, in fact, do. I want to spend the whole day with Harry anyway. I cannot do it this morning as I plan on taking Harry out to see a bit of New York and getting him a few things, namely a coat." Tony seemed annoyed now. Harry knew rationally, that Tony's anger was not directed towards him but with the way Uncle Vernon was, it didn't matter, he always took his frustration, annoyance or anger out on him.

"Apparently not. Now that I have my son here with me and I settle on a price with him, perhaps they will finally have the money to buy themselves all a coat." Tony said sardonically.

By this time their breakfast was being delivered and Harry waited for Tony to start eating first. He had gotten used to starting at the same time as his friends at Hogwarts but at Privet Drive if he was to get anything he had to wait until Dudley and Uncle Vernon were served first. He wasn't sure what his father's rules were yet so he waited.

"Go ahead and start eating, Harry. Tony directed when he noticed that Harry hadn't started eating yet. "Pepper, the food's here. I'll see you back at the tower or you can meet us at Bloomsdale and we'll talk more then." Tony said before ending the phone call and pocketing his phone.

"Sorry about that. Pepper went to check on you this morning and found that you weren't in your room and got worried. She wondered if we had managed to meet and if you were with me."

Harry looked down at his food again. "I didn't mean to frighten her."  
"Oh, think nothing of it, Harry," Tony said waving off the apology. "Pepper is always worrying about something. I told her you were spending the morning with me. She's fine now."

Harry nodded before cutting into his Toast and eggs at the same time Tony did.

Again they found themselves sitting mostly in silence, Tony asking a few questions here and there, with Harry attempting to answer them as truthfully as possible.

In truth, it was a rather relaxing breakfast in spite of them not really knowing each other until Harry heard a loud voice call "Hey, look over there it's the Freak!"

Harry froze his eyes widening. What were the Dursley's doing here? Wasn't there any other restaurant in all of New York they could have gone to?

Tony glanced up frowning at the rude child noticing that the boy and his two parents were walking their way.

"What do you know, it sure is, Dudley. What are you doing here boy? Your father decided he wanted you out of the house already did he?"

Harry didn't say anything. Even after all these years he still hadn't mustered up his inner Gryffindor strength to talk back to his uncle.

Chuckling Vernon continued, "Can't much blame him now can we?"

Harry might have cowed in his uncle's presence after the years of being bullied and punished but Tony was anything but intimidated by his uncle.

"His father happens to be sitting right here you know," Tony said lazily, but staring intently at his son who seemed to be folding into himself.

"Oh, so you are the boy's father then. Pet did you hear that? This man's the boy's father. Well, in that case, I am Vernon Dursley and this is my wife Petunia and our son Dudley. We have been wanting to meet with you." Vernon said while holding out his beefy hand for Tony to shake.

But Tony wasn't going to be having any of that. Instead, he stood up and walked around the table and clasping a hand on Harry's bony shoulder (the opposite one that his uncle had been gripping the day before) and have it a light squeeze as if to reassure him. Harry's body already frozen at seeing his Aunt, Uncle and Cousin flinched at the sudden unexpected touch. Tony ignored it at the moment in spite of having most definitely felt the boy's sudden jerk.

"The pleasure is all yours I am sure. I have been wanting to meet you too and ask you if you were so poor that you could not afford to buy my son proper clothes and a coat. However, since you are making Harry uncomfortable by calling him a freak, which he is not, otherwise I'd be one myself, I am going to be asking you to kindly leave us. You are, of course, encouraged to stop by Stark Towers this afternoon so that we can discuss these things in private. Actually, I insist you do. If-"  
"Damn right we are going to Stark Towers. You owe us for taking in your bloody son all these years. Do you know how much that boy has cost us?"  
"Not very much apparently seeing as he is without a coat and I intend to remedy that," Tony said raising an eyebrow silently challenging his uncle.

"The boy's hot natured," Vernon said without a care.

"No one is that hot natured. It's below freezing outside and coat aside, he doesn't even have appropriate clothing for the weather. I had to lend him my coat just so he could have something to ward off the wind as the clothes you provided him scarcely do enough to keep him modestly covered. Now if you will excuse us, my son and I would like to finish our breakfast in peace. And I am sure everyone else here in this establishment would like to do the same."

"N-"  
"Hogan?" Tony spoke briskly into his mobile Harry hadn't even seen him take out. It was clear that Tony was done talking to Vernon at the moment whether or not Vernon liked it or not.

A few seconds later it seemed that Happy, and the two men from last night, Clark and Fitzgerald, ducked into the restaurant and elbowed past some people as the restaurant was just now starting to get busier.

Harry noticed the curious looks of some of the other restaurant goers and some of the wait staff. A few people were recording the encounter while others talked among themselves.

The three suits had actually walked up to the small group of five before Vernon had even noticed them.

"What the hell do you want?" Vernon snapped when he finally noticed the restaurant manager who had also inched closer and the three men standing beside him and his family.

"Sir you are disrupting our guest, I am going to have to ask you and your family to leave."

"Disrupting? I-" Vernon attempted to argue before Harry noticed that his father's driver grabbed his uncle while one of the others grabbed both Petunia and Dudley by their arms and lead them out. Vernon was complaining loudly about the service of the restaurant and how he'd be reporting them all for kicking him and his family out when they'd done nothing wrong, but that did not sway the three men nor the manager who held the door open for them.

Once the Dursley's had been lead away and out of the restaurant, the manager made his way back to the table and started apologizing profusely saying that their meals were on the house, which Tony would not accept. "...Mr. Stark, I do apologize for the interruption. Had your men not arrived so quickly I would have alerted the police. I hope you will come back in the future and dine with us, but for today the meal is on me."

"Nonsense, Jacob. This was just bad timing and bad luck. I've got it." Tony said as if he knew the manager well. Maybe he did or he could have read the name somewhere.

"Well please let us know if we can get you or your son anything else, Mr. Stark. And again I apologize."

And with that, the manager named Jacob walked back towards the kitchen ushering the small horde of wait staff who'd come out to what all the commotion was about to follow suit.

Harry who had been quiet through the whole ordeal, pushed his food away. He had lost his appetite, something that Tony would not be happy about in the future when he learned of the ramifications that came along with living the Dursleys.

But for now, Tony said nothing about Harry's sudden decrease in appetite, feeling as if he had lost his as well.

They sat in a heavy silence for a few minutes. Neither one of them saying anything although Tony's eyes never left his son once during those few minutes that they sat and waited for the "all clear". Once he was sure the Dursley's were no longer in the vicinity (and had received confirmation from Happy,) Tony waved down a server and asked for the check. Not even looking at what the total had come to, he handed her a crisp bill, told her to keep the change and stood up.

"Hogan's out front waiting for us. Ready to go kiddo?"

"Yes, sir," Harry said without much enthusiasm while attempting to get up only to be stopped by Tony. Not caring about what the other patrons thought of the famous Tony Stark he rounded the table and crouched before Harry looking at him straight in the eye before saying just loud enough for Harry to hear: "You know, while I believe in the possibility of learning something new every day, I have to say, that I've spent forty-seven years on this earth thinking my name was Tony only to find my own son has renamed me as sir. You couldn't have even given your old man a cool name like Dad. Sir." Tony said while shaking his head. "Sir indeed. You will end up giving me grey hairs if you continue with the "sir" stuff."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise which soon fell way to embarrassment. While relieved that the man was obviously joking, based by the smirk on his lips, Harry was still embarrassed.

Harry honestly thought that he'd been embarrassed more in the past ten hours than he had been in his whole twelve years on earth. He really wanted to make a good impression for Tony and all of the people who worked for him, but either he was trying too hard or they liked to make him feel self-conscious. Yet he had a feeling they weren't intentionally trying to make him uncomfortable, at least not in the same way the Dursley's had.

"I'm sorry Tony," Harry said before cutting himself off, proverbially kicking himself. Perhaps the Dursley's had been right after all. Maybe the only sure thing he was good at was mucking things up. He had already caused Tony to become upset with him just because he hadn't referred to him by his actual name or better yet, by the title of father. Harry vowed to try harder next time. "I mean dad."

"That's another thing we'll be working on. You apologize way too much, even when it isn't your fault. Why do you do that?" Tony asked while opening the car door (as Happy chose to remain in the car) and urged Harry in so that he could climb in and get out of the bone-chilling cold.

"It's a habit, I guess. I don't know."  
Tony sighed but seemed to accept the answer, at least for now.

"Let's go find you some clothes that will actually keep you warm because the only way those clothes will keep you warm now, is if we light them on fire. If you'll take us to Bloomingdale's." The way Tony said it made Harry wonder if he was really all that joking about setting the clothes he currently wore on fire.

Harry was kind of excited in the same way he had been last year when he had bought his own robes. It had been the first thing that he'd been able to actually call his and only his in a long time. There was no way Dudley would ever be caught wearing his "freaky" robes, so there were no worries there.

"But s- Tony...Dad, I don't have any money. How am I going to pay for my clothes without money?" Harry asked seriously.

Tony turned to his only son with a look of confusion on his face. Harry was to busy looking at Tony waiting for his response, to notice that Happy was also glancing at the two of them from the rearview mirror, frowning. "What do you mean how are you going to pay for the clothes?"  
When Harry refused to answer, Tony continued. "Of course you don't have any money yet. I will be setting you up with an allowance and a credit card, but I was planning on doing that later. While I am not sure what you mean by 'paying for your clothes', as your father, it falls on me to provide you with anything you might need or want. I am not sure what your cow of an uncle expected you to do but while you are living with me, I am the one who will be paying for anything you need. If I am not mistaking, I think it is about now that a normal parent might say "spend in moderation," but I am not every parent. So don't worry about the price, okay? Get whatever it is you see you like and don't worry about the price. Rest assure, money isn't an issue. And if you see something you might want later, we'll get that too."

He still wasn't sure if he should accept the clothes, as then Tony might come to change the rules and decide that he had to do something in order to pay him back. But the man had defended him against the Dursley's and bought him breakfast. Harry didn't want to argue with Tony so he merely nodded.

Again, Happy had the car pulled up close to the curb right in front of the department store and just like before, they repeated the actions of bailing out of the warm car and into the cold New York morning.

The two of them hurried inside again leaving the driver to park the car somewhere.

The department store was expansive. He had never really shopped at a Muggle department store before for himself, but he felt certain the Dursley's would like it here. At least it would probably appeal to Aunt Petunia. Harry forced himself to push that thought aside. He was with Tony now, not shopping with his Aunt and had just been told to spend whatever to get what he liked. Things must be pretty expensive here, as just the Harry recognized a few of the brands that his aunt liked to wear on special occasions.

It was fortunate that the store had just opened so there weren't too many shoppers there yet and it was because of this that Tony had little problem finding a sales associate to help point them in the direction of the boy's clothing. Following the man's lead, the pair made their way to the boy's department.

"Ah, here we are. My name is Corey, Mr. Stark, please don't hesitate to let me know if I can assist you with anything."

"Thank you, Corey." Tony dismissed the attendant and walked over to the nearest clothes rack. "Well. Let's see about finding you a coat at the very least so that way you don't have to continue wearing one that's too large for you." And Tony set off looking through the various racks of clothes to find a coat he thought would be warm enough for the bony child.

After spending a couple of hours gathering all the most basic things Harry needed, the two returned to Stark Tower, this time Harry was wearing his newly purchased coat and Tony his.

Pepper was waiting for them in the elevator.

"Hello Tony, Harry. I see you at least managed to get a coat." Pepper said kindly.

"There's more in the car. Have someone bring it up."  
"Of course. I wanted to inform you that the Dursley's, Harry's relatives who he's been residing with wanted to meet with you at your earliest convenience. Said they had a plane to Hawaii that they were going to be missing because of it. They have been waiting in the lobby for the past three hours."

"I had the pleasure of meeting them this morning," Tony said without looking a Pepper, checking his phone for something.

"Oh dear. They- they're horrible people aren't they?"  
"That's one word for it. JARVIS call down and have someone tell them I will meet with them in twenty minutes. I hope we can come to an agreement quickly. I have better things to do than to deal with them, namely getting to know my son better." Tony said pointedly looking at Harry with a smile while snaking his arm around his shoulders and pulling him close.

Pepper tried to hide her smile. "Connor also wants to have a word with you too. He didn't go into detail about what it was he wanted to see you over. When should I tell him you will be down to see him?"  
"I'll see him after Harry's relatives leave. That way I can get it all done at once. I don't want Harry present when I met his Aunt and Uncle."

"I think that would be best. I could watch him for you."

"That would be preferred. If you could introduce him to everyone, I'd really appreciate."

"He's already met, Dr. Banner and Steve."

Tony just nodded his mind obviously somewhere else. "Perhaps, we could have Bruce join me then. Test his self-control." Tony said with a smirk.

Pepper raised an eyebrow at her employer. "Do you really think that is wise?"

"He could keep the Dursley's in control. What do you say, Harry? Your uncle intimidated you this morning didn't he? Do you want me to give the Dursley's a taste of their own medicine? The big guy can be quite intimidating when you set him off." Tony said with a chuckle.

"Just don't hurt them. Please." Harry begged, looking at Tony.

Tony eyes widened a fraction in surprise at his son's request. "Of course I won't hurt them. I just want to put them in their place. You know, let them know that there are always bigger fish in the sea. And the Hulk wouldn't hurt them any more than what they deserve."

Whatever Harry had meant by the odd statement did not settle with Tony.

Pepper sensing the discomfort between the two broke in.

"What happened this morning? You did not tell me you ran into them when you called. Why didn't you tell me?" Pepper was upset.

"They came in after we hung up. Not to worry though, Happy took care of them, isn't that right Harry?"

Harry nodded in agreement, refusing to elaborate further. If Tony wasn't going into detail then he wouldn't either. Pepper frowned and began looking between the two of them not totally satisfied with the answer but let it go as the elevator finally arrived at their floor. The three of them exited the elevator and was greeted by a woman and five men all stretched out on the couches that Tony and Harry had occupied earlier.

"Hey, Tony. I see you've met the kid. What do you think of him?"

"What is there to think about? He's perfect. But of course he would be, he's my son." Tony said with pride seeping into his voice while smiling down at Harry.

"What. _You_ have a son? Why am I only finding this out? Who's his mom? You do _know_ the boy's mother don't you?" The lone woman accused while getting up to get a better look at Harry as with the other man Harry had not met last night.

"Bruce and I only found out yesterday, and I think Tony found out this morning unless, of course, you knew all along and were just never going to tell us," Steve said in a mildly accusatory tone.

"I find it incredibly unfair that I only just found out about Harry here, this morning while you, Pep, and Brucey all managed to meet my son last night." Harry's father said mockingly upset before sobering. "His aunt, uncle, and cousin have been camped out downstairs for the past few hours so I need to have a talk with them. I must say, it will probably be interesting. I had the pleasure of meeting them this morning, actually. As for who his mother is, I don't really know. I can remember at least five women from London whom I..." Tony said but cut himself off as he took in the ranges of facial expressions from the rest of the Avengers.

"Ahem, as I was saying, I met them this morning at the restaurant Harry and I ate at."

"Are they as bad as I keep hearing they were? I heard from Janice that they were causing all sorts of problems."

"The Uncle has a mouth about as big around as he is wide," Tony said but added. "I suppose I should be grateful that they took Harry in and kept him safe when I did not."  
Bruce gave Tony an odd look. "What makes you think they kept him safe?"

Tony's eyes flashed over to Harry who was standing closer to Pepper before piercing Banner with a hard look. "Is there a reason why you would think otherwise? I know the man said some things I didn't particularly like, and failed to provide some basic winter clothing for Harry but..."

Harry's head shot up and looked at Banner listening intently as to what he was going to say. He was so focused on Bruce that he did not notice Captain America looking at him observing his body posture and facial expressions.

Bruce also threw Harry a look before answering slowly. "I am just worried that with anyone treating a receptionist in the manner the Uncle did might also take his aggression out in other ways as well."

Tony tensed at what was being left unsaid. The other people in the room also stopped their side-chatter and looked between Tony, Bruce, and Harry.

Pepper gave a soft sigh. This was the first time Tony was hearing this as she had yet to inform Tony of her and Connor's own suspicions and fears. There just hadn't been enough time or the chance to get Tony alone. Besides, she was almost positive that it would be better to give the Dursley's what they wanted for now for then they would be at Tony's mercy, for it would be his money they were spending and nothing came without strings attached. Pepper had an inkling that the Dursley's would be finding this out first hand sooner rather than later.

"I will ask again." Tony said in a serious tone, "what basis do you have that leads you to think that my son has been the victim of abuse?"

"You met him," Bruce repeated refusing to sway from that answer by elaborating more.

"Sir. The Dursley's are on their way up." JARVIS announced dutifully.

"Thank you JARVIS. Harry. I want you to go with Pepper. She can show you around and maybe take you on a tour of the building. I will come and find you after I speak with the Dursley's and Connor."

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	3. Chapter Two

**Disclaimers:** I am not making any money off of this story so any mistakes are my own. Therefore, I cannot be the owner of the Marvel or Harry Potter universes, _that_ honor goes to their respective creators.

 **A/N:** A fair few of you have said in the way of reviews or PM's that you hoped that Tony would not pay off the Dursley's. I am sorry, but I did not listen to your input on this particular instance. I assure you that while I do value your input- very much-, it was never in my intentions for the Dursley's not to get paid. This is the direction I have always wanted this story to take. Again I do apologize to those of you will not necessarily agree with the course this story is taking or some of the actions throughout this chapter, but just remember this: nothing comes without strings attached.

I realise there are some holes in this chapter although I consider this chapter to be among one of the most important chapters in the story (as this chapter is propelling the story in the way I want it to go). This chapter is sort of busy but these holes will be filled in in later chapters. I promise.

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 **[Chapter Two]** Strings Attached:

Whatever Tony had hoped or expected out of the Dursley's were quickly and efficiently lowered by the end of the brief meeting he had with them. In the span of thirty minutes, Tony had come to the conclusion that they were well and truly some of the most awful people he had ever met. And he had met some pretty awful people.

They were greedy, self-centered and downright appalling people who had an equally spoilt brat son who was becoming a replica of his father, both physically and verbally.

The Dursley's for those very reasons, were the very kind of people that Tony liked to hate because in some ways they reminded him of his own father. Far too concerned about personal gain than the things that truly matter in life. Sure they pet and pampered their son but they weren't doing him any favors in that regard either. And for all they did for their son, they equally did not do for Tony's and that was not something, Tony was sure, he would be able to forget or forgive easily.

Even though, Tony's upbringing had been far from perfect, Howard Stark- for all his faults- had at least cared enough about Tony to ensure that he managed to make something of himself and put him through university. Whereas, after meeting up with his son's former guardians, Tony got the distinct impression that nothing would have made them any happier than if his son failed at life and that they had done just about everything in their power to ensure that he did not have an easy path to success.

In spite of the fact that Tony would be the first to admit, that he did not have the foggiest clue on how to be a dad, he knew that he wanted his son to have a different upbringing than what his father provided him, or at least what was left of his child's youth.

And so when they demanded a not-so-measly amount of a million (in American dollars as the conversion would be greater once they swapped it for British Pounds) for all their troubles, he gave it to them without so much of an argue on his part. Tony knew that not everyone in his position would have so readily agreed to the payout without question, in fact Tony was certain that very few people would have just given to the demands of someone like the Dursley's, but then again Tony wasn't everyone. He was Tony Stark: Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, and Philanthropist, at least that was what much of the world knew him as. A lesser extent knew that he was Iron Man of the Avengers. In other words, regardless, of what he was known as, it worked out to his benefit if he gave them the money, the less resistance on his part now, would most definitely pay off later.

Tony had also gathered that the Dursley's really didn't care about much of anything beyond their status. They didn't care that Harry was their nephew or how he had suffered in their hands. The Dursley's really didn't care that Tony was his biological father. The only thing they cared about was the money that was going to be lining their pockets at the end of this meeting. Yet somehow, in between all the hate, guilt and sorrow, Tony found himself rather uncaring as bad as that may sound. He didn't care what problems the Dursley's might've had with his son. No, Tony was dead set on making his whatever hardships his son _might_ have caused them to look like a walk in the park once he got done with them. Tony would do everything in his power to ensure that Harry never came in contact with them again. He didn't care what he had to do, what laws he had to bend, or how it happened. So long as Harry never saw their faces again aside from in the police blotter in the newspaper.

He might not be so nïeve to think that just by removing his son all his problems would be fixed or magically disappear but, it would be a start, and that was what he cared about. Getting Harry on the road to recovery- although when he put it that way, it made it sound as if his son was going to be a recovering alcoholic or something- was the only thing Tony cared about now that he had met the demands of one Vernon Dursley and his wife, Petunia.

The Dursley's, on the other hand, would have no hope of recovering from the downfall he was planning for them.

After the drawn-out process of talking and making and meeting various demands, not that Tony had to _meet_ anything, the Dursley's finally left Stark Tower satisfied with the money they had gotten, although angry that they had missed a small proportion of their vacation because of Tony's unavailability which they were convinced that the company's CEO and Tony were just fabricating.

Tony for his part, playing the part of a perfect host and an honest businessman, which he was… sort of, he lent them one of his aircraft carriers to take to Hawaii as a way to make up for the lost time. It was cheaper just to allow them the use of that, providing that they didn't trash it in the process, than having to buy three last-minute first class tickets which would have been a nightmare. Purchasing three first-class tickets was doable, certainly, with enough money thrown around, but it would have been a nightmare nonetheless and no matter what the Dursley's might think or say, Tony did _not_ owe them anything but by providing them use of one of his personal aircrafts, he was able to get rid of them quicker, more efficiently and cheaper as they had already cost him enough particularly when he really did not have proof of their supposed efforts.

Also, he had given them the money because, in the end, for the most part, it put him in a position of power. Because for however smart the Dursley's thought they were, there was one _major_ thing they had overlooked and that was that nothing- particularly money- came without strings attached. So in truth, he was the one that came out on top in this which is exactly how he had wanted it to be.

He walked leisurely to the floor where Connor was located asking that Bruce meet him there so that they could formulate a plan of sorts to help Harry with whatever Connor thought Harry might need help in.

The child obviously needs some help in confidence. He was too worried about putting someone out that he did not ask for anything and everything Tony had bought him so far had pretty much been forced upon him. It was if Harry thought he had to pay Tony back for everything. And when Tony refused to accept any payment, the kid thanked him non-stop. Tony thought it was nice the first time his son said "Thank you" for something but by the third or fourth time, it got old. And what made it so bad was that the kid, _his_ kid, didn't seem to know how to act with him buying the stuff for him. And even though that would be remedied with time, it was worrisome and it bothered Tony more than he let on. When Tony had asked if he had ever had anything new in his life since had gone to live with the Dursley's, Harry had responded that _they_ had never spent any more money on him than they absolutely had to. When Tony had frowned, Harry had been quick to elaborate that he had limited access to an one of the accounts his parents had left him, mostly for schooling purposes and that he had bought himself some school stuff with that. That did not endear the Dursley's to Tony any more.

Making it to Connor's office he was greeted by Bruce who was lounging in one of the chairs. Taking advantage of Connor's absence, Tony picked up the prior conversation without a moment's hesitation.

"You never answered my question from earlier."

"Which one? I believe you asked a few." Bruce said vaguely, knowing which one it was Tony was referring too but not having a factually answer formulated.  
"You know which one. The one about Harry and the Dursley's." Tony refused to refer to them as the kid's relatives, otherwise, that would be insinuating that he was related to them. Or in the very least, had met, at least, Mrs. Dursley before. He hadn't, he'd checked and they had confirmed that it had been Mrs. Dursley's sister, Lily, he had spent the night with.

Thank heavens.

Finding out that he had a son was a surprise enough. To find out that he been so drunk that he had laid up with someone someone as... _like_ Mrs. Dursley would have probably sent him into cardiac arrest if he didn't have the arc reactor, and although he did not have any remembrance of what the woman's sister had been like surely she couldn't be as bad as her surviving sister. He would have to ask JARVIS to pull up everything about Lily Potter, née Evans later when he could do it without Harry's knowledge. But he would like to think that the woman had had a charming way about her, at the very least been good looking, unlike horseface.

"I don't know, Tony. Really, it's just a hunch I'm having but…" Banner shook his head sadly while fidgeting with his hands, "I've never seen a boy Harry's age act the way he does. Not that I know much about kids or anything. But most kids are spewing off reasons why they _can't_ wash the dishes and Harry was over there listing the reasons why he _should_ be washing dishes, and cooking, and whatever other laborious jobs they've no doubt been forcing him into doing. He's too meek. Have you seen how he tries to avoid eye contact when certain topics are breached. How he acts like he has to pay for his keep through chores. I don't have to meet them to know what kind of people they are. But with saying that, I stress that these are nothing more than an observation on my part and I have no proof of anything. Dr. Fayge will no doubt have a more detailed perspective concerning Harry's time with those relatives of his. And we can act from there. How much did they ask for?"

"A million," there was a green tint to Bruce's eyes as he heard how much the boy's relatives had asked for but didn't comment.

The next few minutes were spent in silence, each deep in thought about what they would have to do as a team to ease Harry into his new lifestyle. It would be a team effort, as it did take a village to raise a child. But Tony had a team and so he figured, he hoped, that his back was well covered.

Connor came rushing in, absently apologizing for his tardiness. Sitting down rather heavily behind his desk, the middle-aged man rummaged through his desk looking for something.

"Sorry." Connor muttered again slightly out of breath, "I got busy there for a moment and couldn't get away." He handed Tony a copy of the results but Tony brushed it aside. One look at Harry and anyone could tell that he was Tony's kid. The paperwork was just a formality now.

So without delay he cut to the chase. "So, Pepper already gave me the results of the paternity test and I met Harry. Gotta admit, the kid looks a bit like me when I was his age, although I was never that skinny." Tony said with a chuckle before frowning at his observances. Leave it to Tony to find some sort of wry humor in a situation.

"That was one of the thing's I wanted to talk to you about. He's too skinny and if what I interpreted from the conversation is correct, then his relatives don't allow him to eat as often as he should. They insisted that he'd eaten a large breakfast at school and therefore could not be hungry, when their own child was throwing a tantrum over being hungry. All this occurred around eight-thirty, nine o'clock at night. They could not sit there and tell me that that child was not hungry."  
"I kinda figured that out on my own. The kid didn't know what to do when I took him out to eat this morning. I ended up having to practically order for him. I am sure _they_ made sure they ate, probably ate just so he would have anything to eat." Tony said recalling how rotund the man and son were.

Bruce chose that moment to speak up about his own observations, "Last night, presumably after everything with the family occured, Pepper brought him up to the common area and ordered pizza. Cap and I had eaten probably three slices to his one. I don't think I have ever seen anyone savor a piece of cheese pizza like Harry did, makes me wonder if he had ever eaten pizza before."  
Tony chuckled humorously. "I wonder how many times that oaf he calls his cousin took food from him."  
Connor nodded along listen to Tony and Bruce rehash some of Harry's more troublesome behavior's they'd observed.

"It's expected that if what we believe is true, that he is suffering from malnutrition but there is no telling how long this has been going on nor if they did anything else to him. But until I give him a full look over, I won't know for sure. My suggestion would be to bring him by in a couple of days once he's had a bit of time to get settled I can look at him properly. The only reason why I wanted to see you today was to talk to you and ask how last night and this morning went. How did he act when you introduced yourself?"  
"He was surprised, but I thought he took it about as well as I did. Actually took him out to grab a bite to eat and then went to get him some basic necessities. Those people who call themselves his relatives didn't even have the decency about them to provide him with a proper coat. Now with the million I just gave them, they should have enough money to buy ten thousand coats. We happen to run into the Dursley's at the restaurant I took Harry too. He was surprised to see them and that uncle was prepared to say some pretty nasty things but I got it sorted out before things got too much out of hand. I don't know about you Bruce, but I think I will be in the mood to pay them a visit here in the upcoming weeks, just after everything with Harry and the upcoming holidays settle down." Tony mused more to himself than to the other occupance in the room.

"Good, good. Although I shouldn't be condoning any of this, that boy, from what I've seen so far, has suffered plenty in their hands. Could you at least make sure that they serve some years? I'd ask for more, but it really would go against my oath."

Tony chuckled at Connor's admittance, the Dursley's wouldn't know what hit them when the Iron Man came knocking on their front door.

"Sure thing, doc. There's a few things I want to tell them myself but I don't think words will serve justice."

There was a slight pause in the conversation before Connor spoke up again.  
"Well, bring Harry down sometime, any time works for me. And we'll see what needs to be done. If you'll excuse me now, I've got things to do."

With that Connor picked up the phone and proceed dialing a number.

Getting up and walking out at the dismissal, Tony couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed with the meeting, here he had thought he might actually get some information on the Dursley's but all Connor wanted was to talk about how Harry had fared in the past few hours, most of them he'd probably been asleep for.

There was always tomorrow, but he wanted answers today. It was clear that Harry was unwilling to talk about the Dursley's so he couldn't get answers from him, so he would have to wait. Although it would be begrudgingly. He didn't like waiting.

Perhaps if he called Coulson then something could be arranged sooner. As much as he hated to get S.H.I.E.L.D. involved in such a personal affair, if anyone could cover up the tracks of someone it would be Coulson. And the Dursley's needed to go.

Perhaps when he managed to convince Coulson to see it his way, he would send someone from S.H.I.E.L.D. to watch the Dursley's while they were in Hawaii. Just to, you know, get a better _feel_ for them.

After calling Coulson and giving just enough information to pique the man's interest but leaving him hanging and in want of more, Tony set about finding his son. If Coulson or Fury so much as thought that Tony or the rest of his team might so much as think of causing trouble, they would be there. And right now, Coulson thought that Tony was considering breaking a host of international laws for reasons largely unexplained.

Wondering the halls of his building rather aimlessly, lost in thought. He was a father. He had never honestly considered the possibility of being a father, yet he had been one for the past twelve years. What's more, was that he was the father of a child who everyone suspected to be a victim of abuse.

Kids Harry's age were usually trying to get into mischief with their friends or fake a reason to get out of doing something not treating everything with caution and suspicion.

When he did eventually manage to find Pepper and Harry. Harry looked more than a little overwhelmed at the sudden amount of information that had been dumped on him.

But Tony wasn't too concerned a lot of people looked the same way during their first few days in the Tower. Tony felt like Harry needed to know what it was his old man did for a living. Stark Tower, and its enterprises was just one of the things Tony meddled in and the rest could come later.

Iron Man would come a bit later, unless New York City needed saving _now_. Harry had been informed about the Avengers, but according to Bruce, he wasn't well informed on them. Tony had thought everyone had heard of them by now. But maybe they weren't as well known over their in Great Britain as they were here.

"So whatcha think? Like it?"

"It's, it's a lot to take in. I don't think I even understood half of it." Harry said with a small frown and a shake of his head. It was an awful lot, and considering that electronics did not always fare well around magic Harry wasn't sure he'd ever be able to understand due to his limitations.

"You will. I'll teach you, myself!" Tony looked excited at the idea of teaching Harry about electronics.

"Okay, I guess." Came the half-hearted response that was significantly less enthusiastic as they walked into the common area.

Harry felt like that would be the room where he would be spending much of his Christmas break at. It seemed to be the place he always ended up coming back to.

Harry glanced around noticing that everyone seemed to still be there from before, before anyone could comment or ask Harry any questions an owl came swooping into the room and landed gracefully on his shoulder.

"Hedwig!" Harry exclaimed. He had almost forgotten all about her in the morning's excitement. He had asked JARVIS to open a window when he had gotten up, having been too exhausted last night from all the traveling and the news of having a father to think to do so last night. So he had asked JARVIS to open a window, when he couldn't figure out how to do it so that she could attempt to hunt in this concrete jungle and had left it open for her to fly in when she had finished. Harry had worried about whether or not she would find anything to hunt but if not, at least she was able to stretch her wings and he would feed her later this evening.

"Heya girl. Did you find anything to eat?" Harry asked softly while stroking her as she nibbled affectionately at his fingers.

The owl blinked at Harry before vigorously shaking her head as if she actually was responding to the question. Harry smiled faintly, it would be harder for her to hunt here in New York City but it would only be a couple of weeks. She would just have to make do with the sparse hunts that would actually yield catching a rat, but Harry felt that it could not be as bad as what they had to work with at the Dursley's where she had to survive off of soup.

"Is that an _owl?_ How did that thing get in here? Harry?" Tony asked while eying the owl. When Harry didn't reply too focused on Hedwig, Tony tried again, "JARVIS?"

"The owl arrived at the same time young sir did yesterday. The owl left to hunt this morning and returned less than an hour ago."  
"Where did you get an owl?" Tony asked still in a semi-state of disbelief.

"She was a birthday present. A friend bought her. Said he wanted to buy me something nice since Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon hadn't." Harry said rather guard although Tony found his son's expression unreadable.

"You can buy an _owl_? Where? On second thought, don't tell us or Legolas, over there, will be trying to find a way to get his hands on one. But seriously, do you keep her like a pet? I know nothing on owls! How did you train her? Or did she come already trained? What kind of owl is she?"  
"I do but mostly I kind of let her do what she wants but she mainly just hangs around wherever I am at, or if I am at school she comes and goes as she pleases. My friend found her at a petshop when he took me into town to go school shopping so I assumed they trained her or she was born in captivity. She's a Snowy Owl so she likes the cooler weather." Harry said about the same time as the man his dad must have been referring to as "Legolas" exclaimed "Hey!" loudly.

"An owl. Of all the exotic pets out there, my son goes for the obvious choice and buys an owl." Tony said again as if he was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact.

"Is she friendly?" asked "Legolas" who had been looking intently at the owl asked as he reached out as if to stroke her. Harry was certain that Legolas wasn't his real name.

Harry nodded while trying to convince everyone in the room why Hedwig should stay. " _I_ think so. She has never been any trouble, other than whatever my Aunt and Uncle say but that's only because she sometimes liked to bring back part of her hunt as a gift for me. But anyway she can keep so quiet that you won't even realize that she's even here! She used to being quiet for hours, even when she was locked in her cage for days on end 'cause Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia didn't want her flying around and attracting attention. Sometimes I would have to share my food with her because I couldn't let her out to hunt but I brought enough of her food with me so she should be good until I go back to school, even if she can't go hunting."

"Whoa there kid. I think if you want to keep the owl, Tony will let you, no matter how noisy she might be or what trouble she causes." The man who was trying to pet Hedwig said somewhat alarmed at the information Harry had just shared. Harry watched Hedwig who looked at the approaching hand almost as if she was debating if she should snap at or not. Glancing up once he was sure Hedwig would be on her best behavior, Harry noticed the looks being passed between Bruce and Tony but before he could read into it, Tony exclaiming loudly.

"Of course he can keep the owl!" Tony said in an affronted manner at the idea of not letting Harry keep something he cared for so dearly. Or possibly because the Dursley's had also managed to mistreat an animal that his son so clearly loved. Either way, Harry felt that it was safe to say that Hedwig would be spending her next two weeks here in New York alongside him.

"You said her name was Hedwig? That's an interesting choice of a name, but the same can be said for keeping an owl as a pet." The guy commented idely, while stroking the Snowy Owl carefully remaining mindful of her beak.

"I came across the name in one of my school books." Harry shrugged off the comment about keeping an owl as an unusual pet. In _his_ world, it was normal to keep owls, as they did serve their purpose.

"What school do you go to anyway? It must be pretty different from the ones here, if they allow their students to take pets such as owls with them. I'm Romanoff, but you can call me Natasha." The woman spoke to Harry for the first time but seemed to be sizing him up and reading him to gage his response.

"I go to a boarding school up in Scotland. It's the same one my parents, I mean my mum and adoptive dad, went to." Harry seemed to stumble over the adoptive part of the sentence before he could continue to talk about his school though, Tony cut in. Maybe it was for the best.

"Lily. Your mother was Lily and she married James Potter." Tony said, proud of himself for remembering both Lily and his son's stepfather's name.

"Yes." Harry confirmed slowly as if he was confused as to why Tony had just blurted out their names. "Did you know them? I mean of course you did, but I have never heard of you before yesterday...so I assume that..." Harry struggled to find the appropriate words. He wasn't too sure of anything right now other than he found himself really wanting to know more and understand the situation. He needed to understand why Tony hadn't gone a checked up on him. Why he had just left him at the Dursley's without so much as a call to check in. The excuse of his _dad_ not knowing about him was becoming rather unsettling. How do you live ten, twelve years without knowing or even suspecting that you have a son?

Everyone in the room looked at Tony expectantly waiting to hear how he was going to answer the question without letting on that he had become a father after having a one-night stand with the boy's mother and how Harry had not been planned.

"I didn't know James and I hadn't known your mother for very long but, we met and got to know each other, uhh, well enough and then nine months later you came along." Tony said praying that the kid had finished asking questions. Tony had no idea how he would respond if Harry for specifics of how long he'd known his mother. Tony wouldn't have remembered that drunken night had he not had a son now to remind him of it and he had yet to ask JARVIS to pull up anything on Lily Potter so he had no idea what she looked like other than she must have had green eyes, because he sure didn't.

"So if you knew about me how come you never stopped by to check on me? Or after mum and dad were killed, why didn't you come and get me then? Why did I get sent to the Dursley's? I begged to Professor Dumbledore before summer term to let me stay at school during the summer. I didn't want to go back to the Dursley's. I didn't like it there."

"Uhh, I don't know kid. I actually just found out that you existed this morning- you were there. Why your mom didn't tell me about you I don't know. I guess, your stepfather didn't know? Your relatives said he and your mom were drunk and that he wrecked their car and died when you were fifteen months old. Said that was how you got that lighting bolt scar on your forehead. And had they had been cleaning out their attic last month and came across a diary Lily-" Tony said but instantly regretted it when he saw anger set in on his son's face and the boy clinch his fist as if to restrain himself.

Was Tony- his _father_ \- implying that James Potter, a man whole loved him like his own son and had made him heir of his estate in the span of less than fifteen-months, had been a random drunk? Who didn't know that Harry wasn't his son? His mum would have never done _anything_ like that. He was sure. She would have told his father. Harry couldn't do anything about how his parents had died, but he was so _sick_ of people treating his parents like they scums just because of his Aunt's jealous streak. That he could do something about. He could honor his parents (no matter what people said about James not being his dad) memory by setting the record straight.

"That's a lie! My father wasn't like that! He loved my mum and me more than anything! He loved her long before she loved him but she would never keep anything like this from him. They loved each other! Everyone who knew them says so. They told me stories about them. And I know that dad would have never done something so stupid as drink and drive! He died trying to protect mum and me! I was there, I remember To- I saw _him_ kill my mum in front of me, after he killed my dad! And now he's apparently made it his life's mission to kill me! Even after my mum sacrificed herself so he couldn't! She didn't have to die, but she did because she loved me. And dad died trying to stop him because he loved us. I spent my whole life believing my dad was a drunk but he's not! He wasn't! He probably loved me more than you do! If you knew my mum so well, how come you never contacted each other after that night? How come she never told you you had a son?" Harry nearly exploded in a way that Tony or Bruce had not thought was possible for such a timid acting child.

Tony froze at his son's display of temper and at the accusations. Even Hedwig gave an irritated hoot as she flew from Harry's arm and onto the arm of the chair where Natasha was sitting.

"If you loved her that much why didn't you save me?" Harry whispered almost brokenly. Staring at Tony his eyes alight with tears but the anger was still very evident.

"Your fa- this James guy, was murdered? And your mother was- in front of you? And you remember?" Steve said. His face was hard and his eyes were cold. Harry seriously wanted to facepalm himself as he stared at Steve. Was that the _only_ thing he got from his rant?

Pepper had actually come over and tried to hug Harry which he numbly allowed. Harry compared Pepper to Professor McGonagall with her no-nonsense attitude so for her to be hugging him now, she must have been upset with what Harry had just said.

"Geez, that's messed up, kid to live with the memory of your mother being murdered," Another voice bleeds into Steve's but it was Tony's voice Harry heard the loudest.

"What happened Harry?" Tony said in a deadly serious tone right as JARVIS interrupted. "Coulson is on his way up, sir."

"Thanks, JARVIS," Tony said while still staring at Harry.

"Who murdered Lily? _Who_ is after you?" His father said again. He didn't remember the woman but they had had a son together and he was not okay with any of this.

"I-I don't know." Harry said softly refusing to meet anyone's eyes. Everyone knew he was lying, he had almost given a name earlier. He knew he just was afraid of something or something prevented him from telling them. But Tony wanted- no, he _needed_ answers. Enough with the secrets. Tony had had enough of secrets he wanted the truth for once.

The elevator doors opened at that moment letting a man dressed in a dark suit stepped out and into the room.

His eyes roamed the room before landing on Harry. Giving what Harry thought was supposed to be a reassuring smile the man walked calmly over before stopping just short of him and Tony.

"Afternoon. I believe there was something you needed to tell me?"

"Harry this is Agent." Tony ignored the man in favor of introducing Harry to him.  
"His name is Phil, Harry. Tony seems to think his first name is Agent and his last name is Coulson." Pepper said while looking at Tony who rolled his eyes. "I thought we had put this conversation behind us." She continued in a slightly exasperated manner.

"Why can't I call him Agent? That's what he is." Tony argued back childishly.  
The man who Tony and Pepper were arguing about cleared his throat.

"You want to explain your call?"  
"Not really, but I need your help. Or rather I need immunity from the law, which you and Fury can give me. Harry why don't you-"  
"The boy can remain," Phil said firmly.

Harry suppressed a flinch at being referred as "boy" but perhaps he hadn't done as good of a job as he had thought because he felt Natasha's gaze on him and her eyes narrowed a little at him.

"But-" Tony started just as Pepper spoke over him, "Phil, I don't know if that's-".

But the man cut off their protest, "What you need to tell me will only take a minute. Now, what were you saying earlier about you going to break the law?" An eyebrow quirked here.

"Harry is my son who I just found out about this morning.-" Harry wondered if Tony got as tired of introducing Harry as Harry was of hearing it. "-is relatives live in England. I just need to be able to go over there and teach them what happens to child abusers without getting into legal trouble."  
"They are on their way to Hawaii now Tony, just do whatever you want to do to them while they are here in the U.S. and leave Great Britain out of it," Pepper said.

"I _know_ but I want them to get comfortable, and spend some of the money I gave them. They are, by definition, a millionaire now. Let them spend the money. If I do something about it now, then what's the use of me "reimbursing" them? I got what I want." Here he pulled Harry closer as if to emphasize his point. "Besides, if I go after them now then the press will likely get involved. They were right when they said that I don't want to make a big deal about having a son. I want us to get adjusted to living with each other before letting the world know and Harry doesn't need the Media hounding him. Plus when the Media finds out, whatever narcissistic killer killed Lily and James might come searching for him."

Harry didn't mention that the guy was already after him and the likelihood of the Death Eaters watching something as muggle as a TV was about as likely as Neville landing a position on the Gryffindor's Quidditch team.

"I'm sorry?" Phil questioned with an air of polite disinterest, although Harry suspects the man was anything but.

Harry glanced up at him trying to figure out why this man, agent, Phil, person was willing to become invested in something that he had no knowledge of. Harry sensed that the man was sort of like Dumbledore in the fact that he had more power than he let on but Harry had no way of knowing if this was true. But no matter what sort of power Phil had in the muggle world, it wouldn't carry over into the magical society, at least not that of Great Britain's, even if the man was a squib.

In truth the man looked like someone who might have worked in Tony's accounting department, but Tony had called him Agent. So he had to have some sort of, probably mundane, government position. Then again did anyone expect a warlock as powerful as Dumbledore who had been awarded the Order of Merlin First Class to remain content as a headmaster? Sometimes, Harry had come to realise, that the most powerful of people liked to take on the most unassuming of roles.

Even so, this man was a muggle and it wasn't like Harry could freely talk about his world as he was sure there was some international law about exposing his kind to muggles. If this is what his holidays were going to consist of Harry wasn't sure he would survive the two weeks without either exposing his kind or attracting trouble. But it was almost unfair to say the latter, as he did have a knack of attracting trouble, even when he didn't go looking for it, it somehow managed to always find him. So in a sense, Harry was almost sure something was going to happen in these upcoming weeks.

"Someone murdered his mother and stepfather in front of him when he was fifteen months old but was interrupted by something before he could kill Harry and has evidently been trying to finish the job even since," Tony said while fiddling with some bracelets he had snapped on either wrist. Harry hadn't seen where they had come from, but he had never seen them before.

Phil looked at Harry to see how he was taking all this but the boy remained almost stoic throughout the whole explanation.

"Tony. That's enough." Pepper said while reaching out, Harry assumed, for the bracelets.

With a great show of reluctance, Tony gave them to her. "Let's deal with the Dursley's first and then you can deal with the other things."  
"But Harry-"  
"Dursley's first, Tony."

"Capcicle, we need a plan of action. And Bruce I'm going to be digging it when the green guy comes out. I think the color will compliment the purple on that older male Dursley's face perfectly. He looks like a grape being squeezed in your fist. He likes to intimidate people so let's see what happens when the tables have turned." Tony said. "See Pepper, I am dealing with the Dursley's."

"Perhaps you could inform me of the Dursley's transgressions before releasing the Hulk on them and how you have come about having a son. Forgive me if I don't congratulate you on being a new father and all." The man's smile got a little bigger and his tone slightly more sarcastic.

"Do I need to really explain how I came about having a son or can you use your imagination? Assuming you know what that is and how it works."

"I think I have an idea, Mr. Stark," Coulson said drily.

"Good. Because that's not a conversation I want to have in front of my twelve-year-old son. As for the kid's relatives, well they're just all around horrible people and they deserve to be knocked down a peg or two."

"And who was Harry's mother?"

"Lily Potter, well, I remember an Evans, Lily Evans, but she married a Potter. We met up for- during one of my trips to London and had a connection." Tony was really going to have to watch it or he would slip up and tell Harry that he had basically just been sleeping around with his son's mom and had no intention of doing anything else.

"I am sure," Phil said in a tone that told Tony that he knew _exactly_ under what circumstances he had met Lily.

"Right," Pepper said while throwing Tony a hard look. "No matter what happened between Tony and Mrs. Potter, I doubt Mrs. Potter is to be blamed. Tony can be quite… insistent, particularly in certain instances. What I do not understand, and maybe you could enlighten us Tony, is why the Dursley's gained guardianship over Harry once Mr. and Mrs. Potter passed away? Surely her Will would have mentioned you or someone more suited to take care of Harry as Mrs. Dursley hinted that her relationship with Harry's mother had always been a bit strained last night."

Tony was aware of everyone looking at him with the exception of Harry who seemed more interested in petting his owl than following the conversation, but Tony wasn't dumb enough to think Harry wasn't listening in thought about his response for a second.

"Horseface said that she and her husband were stuck with him after his godparents were deemed unfit to raise him immediately following their murder. She did not go into detail but the way she worded it, it sounded as if they had been forced to take Harry in. It is clear that they never wanted him or cared for him in the way they should. Harry said that he sometimes had to share his own food with his pet owl."

Harry noticed the man's smile had thinned a bit and his eyes were slightly harder as he looked at Harry.

"I will inform Fury of this development. Until then, do not do anything, or I will be holding you personally responsible Stark."

ⅤΛⅤΛⅤ

By God what had happened in the course of a few hours? That was the golden question that no one knew. Not even the ever insightful Albus Dumbledore, the same one that the Minister wrote to on a daily basis asking for advice, knew the whereabouts of Harry-bloody-Potter. The wards that were supposed to protect Harry-bloody-Potter had fallen and no one knew why.

So the Potter-and-Weasley-free holiday he'd been so looking for had abruptly became consumed with trying to track the boy down. The promise he'd whispered upon finding out that his old master was targeting his only love was how Dumbledore had managed to convince him to check on the boy. _He_ did not need Dumbledore to remind him of that promise. While it was one he intended to keep he felt he had done his duty last term with Quirrell. Dumbledore, had, naturally, disagreed.

So here he was, appearing to Surrey in hopes to find the boy getting into whatever mischief he was sure to be getting into, give him a stern dressing down and get on with enjoying the rest of his Holidays without the Gryffindor nuisances that plagued him.

 _Of course_ , the Potter boy wasn't home when he arrived but it appeared neither was 'Tuney or her family.

Although he wasn't in the mood to go on a goose chase trying to find the Potter spawn, he figured Albus would just send him after the brat anyway and the sooner the boy was found the sooner he could return to his Holiday-making (not that he was keen on spending the Season at Hogwarts for _yet_ another year).

After receiving no response after the nth knock, he was about to leave when he saw an elderly figure hurrying towards him.

"If you're here for Petunia she's not here. They left yesterday for Hawaii. Won't be back till after the beginning of the New Year according to Petunia."

"Speaking plainly woman! Have you or have you not seen Harry Potter?"

"What do you mean? Harry was supposed to come home?"

"He arrived at King's Cross yesterday, otherwise we would have been notified immediately."

"I didn't know he was coming home for the Holidays."

"So you haven't seen him." Snape grounded out. Merlin! he had better luck getting things out of first years than the squip in front of him.  
"No. I told you." Arabella Figg said. "I talked to Petunia just… the day before yesterday, was it? And she said that they were all going to Hawaii. Something about wanting to go somewhere tropical and where the sun was shining for once."

"And she never mentioned anything about her nephew?"  
"Not, that I can recall. Course, my memory isn't all what it use to be, but...no I am positive she just said that the three of them were going to Hawaii. No mention of Harry."

"Of course. Does she _ever_ mention the boy?" Snape asked rhetorically. If _his_ memory served him right, which it would considering he was still in his prime the woman wouldn't think twice about her nephew. She had hated Lily for what she was and would hate her son for being a wizard too.

"No. She never says anything about him if she can help it. She usually only complains about how lazy he is," Arabella remarked anyway.

"Why am I not surprised?" Snape said with a curl of his lip. "The boy's just as lazy here as he is at school."

"You cannot mean that!" The squib exclaimed a bit too loudly before looking anxiously around to see who might be watching them. "Why don't we take this back to my house. Can't do anything around here without the neighbor's gossiping and I'd prefer not to be the talk of the street just because I was talking to some stranger out in Petunia's front yard."  
"So they are in Hawaii, are they? Never thought that I would be so fortunate to get away from his annoying friends for the break and now the Potter brat has gone on holiday. This has to be too good to be true." Severus mumbled to himself.

"Harry has to be one of the hardest working boys I have ever seen." Arabella continued as they quickly walked the short distance from the Dursley's house to her's ignoring Severus' grumble.

Snape gave a disbelieving grunt.

"He's always doing something for the Dursley's but mostly just keeps to himself, you know? He doesn't talk much, and when he does it's never about anything in particular. Doesn't appear to have any friends either, poor boy, probably because he's away at Hogwarts all year, but that cousin of his… I will tell you something Severus Snape: I don't know what you have against that boy, but I assure you the only lazy one of the two, would be Dudley. That boy can't find the energy within him to even walk to the kitchen to grab a snack. His parents ended up putting his telly in the kitchen so that they wouldn't have to listen to him complain about starving to death just because he's gone without food for longer than five hours."

Severus sneered at the thought of such an atrocious child. Petunia sure knew how to raise them, didn't she?

"I do not care about the muggle child, I am here to figure out the whereabouts of Harry Potter. If they have gone to Hawaii then I must depart and return back to Hogwarts and inform Albus."  
"Severus…" But it was already too late, the man had taken the floo back to Hogsmeade.

"Well. He never was the most patient one. I just hope for that poor boy's sake…"  
Back at Hogsmeade, Snape was dusting himself off, as there really was no clean way to use the Floo no matter how careful you went about using them.

Trudging through the streets and the snow he made it back to Hogwarts grounds and quickly made it into the castle and headed directly to the Headmaster's office.

"Liquorice Wands" The Gargoyle immediately sprung off to the side allowing him through.

Walking up the spiral staircase he quickly made his way to the office and found Albus gently stroking his Phoenix.

"Ah, Severus, lemon drop?"  
"No, thank you, Headmaster." He said stiffly what was it about those muggle candies that enthralled the old coot so much? The man's golden boy was currently somewhere in Hawaii which was out of the Ministry's jurisdiction and the man was offering him a lemon drop.  
"I trust you found Harry safe and well?"

"I found nothing of the sort."  
The grandfatherly man peered over his half mooned spectacles with a grave look of concern.

"What do you mean Severus? You did see Harry didn't you?"  
"It would appear that Petunia decided a trip to Hawaii would be _nice_ and it would be my guess that they decided to bring the b- Potter, along."  
Dumbledore frowned at the unwelcomed news.

"I warned them about taking the boy out of the country. It simply isn't safe. I'll have to write to the American Ministry and see if it is somehow possible for them to keep an eye on the family."

"Surely the child wouldn't be in any harm there? The Americans do not have to fear You-Know-Who's return."  
"Voldemort, Severus, fear of the name can only increase the fear of the thing itself."

Severus ground his teeth together, he hadn't come here to be preached to.

"Perhaps they do not, but we have no control over there. If something were to happen then we would be powerless to stop it. It's better if we alert them now so that we can have someone monitor the situation."

"If you think it would be best, then go ahead. Let me know if you require my assistance again, I will be down stairs brewing."

"Severus, sit down. I wasn't finished yet." There was a command laced into the request. Severus sat down.

"I would like for you to go and personally check on the boy. I would go myself, but I am needed here."  
"Send McGonagall then, she's his Head of House." Severus dismissed.  
"McGonagall is visiting her sister, who has recently caught ill." Albus reminded gently.

Severus glared at the floor like an upset child, clenching his teeth together again. He would be in need of a mouth guard if he didn't find Potter soon. Finally grounded out a short. "Fine, I'll do it."

"Excellent my boy! I will arrange for a Portkey just as soon as I get finished contacting the American Ministry."

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	4. Chapter Three

**Disclaimers:** I am not making any money off of this story so any mistakes are my own. Therefore, I cannot be the owner of the Marvel or Harry Potter universes, _that_ honor goes to their respective creators.

 **Warning:** The early part of this chapter contains some mild-ish language.

 **A/N Please Read:** So a few things to note concerning previous, this and future chapters:

First of all, this story is AU! Some of the characters might be a bit OOC. Keep this in mind, won't you? Thanks.

In this story (and this story alone), MI7 is the muggle cover for the Order of the Phoenix. MI7 is primarily the term used by squibs or the few muggles who know about witches and wizards (i.e. the Queen, muggle Prime Minister, etc.) so that they can talk "freely" about the magical community without breaking the International Statute of Secrecy.

Secondly, in this story, Nick Fury and Kingsley Shacklebolt are cousins. Nick is a Squib who knows about the rise and fall of Lord Voldemort and of hidden communities of magic-producing people that are sporadically located throughout the world largely through his cousin, who keeps him informed on certain international matters.

Coulson does not know about magic. But that is addressed in this chapter. I had a few people question this so I thought I'd address it flat out rather than have you all figure it out later in this chapter. (That is if you even bother getting this far into this abnormally long Author's note.)

Fury will be referring to You-Know-Who as Voldemort and the likes. Being a Squib and removed from the British magical population, and residing in America, he does not have the same fear of the dark wizard as someone like his cousin would.

It is glaringly obvious that Snape has an issue with James Potter in this chapter and his hatred is being transferred from Potter to Tony Stark, even before he meets Tony he is already comparing him to his nemesis. At times I feel that I am perhaps unjustly harsh with Snape. I apologize for this, as Snape will always be the good guy, even when he's acting like a complete jerk.

This chapter is kind of busy, as one thing sort of leads to another but it moves the story on to bigger and better things and because the early chapters of this story occur over Christmas break, the time span is against us, therefore, making the story move at a fast pace.

Of course, if you have any questions about this or other chapters leave them in the form of a PM and a Review. I cannot guarantee that I will always respond to your Reviews but I might address certain questions in future chapters.

I could have written more but honestly, I was just so sick of reading, and rereading this chapter.

ⅤΛⅤΛⅤ

 **[Chapter Three]** Coming Clean...sort of:

"What did Stark want?" Fury growled out when Phil returned to the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters after reassuring himself that Tony wasn't going to do anything stupid and rash without informing him first.

"He wanted to introduce his son to me," Coulson said with a shrug but his tone belied his feelings.

"Stark has a son? Like a _baby_?" Fury asked the surprise was evident in his voice. He hadn't been the only one to act surprised at the news, even though if anyone was to have a child somewhere out in the world, it would be Stark.

"I wouldn't go that far, but yes, Tony has a twelve-year-old son."

"Is Stark even responsible enough to look after a child?" Nick mused aloud.

Phil didn't offer his opinion on the matter but it didn't matter, the answer although, left unsaid, was clear.

Fury thought the news over for a moment before he dared to ask the question.  
"What's his name?" Fury was almost afraid of the answer. If Phil said-  
"Harry Potter," Phil said without a second thought at the name.

Fury groaned audibly, he _knew_ it. Phil glanced over at his boss with a raised eyebrow.

Fury ignored his colleague's questioning looking. "Tell me he did not have a lightning bolt scar on his forehead?" He demanded. You could almost go as far as say _pleaded_. Nick _pleaded_ for it not to be so. Anyone could have the name Harry Potter, it wasn't exactly an uncommon first name or surname. But only one person in the world (as far as he knew and was concerned) went by that name _and_ had a lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

"I cannot do that, sir. Is there some significance to the scar?"

Fury scowled, deeply displeased with this new development of just who Tony Stark's son was. And the chances of Stark knowing just who his son was and what his son did was very slim.

"And _how_ , exactly, did Stark find out that Harry Potter was his son?"

"Do you know the boy, sir?"  
"No! Now answer the damn question."  
"His relatives dropped him off last night. Forced the physician at Stark Tower to verify that he was Stark's son and walked away with the million they demanded all their troubles this morning." Phil said watching Fury's reaction.

"Goddammit! Do you know what sort of trouble this has caused? That boy _cannot_ stay with Stark! Why was I not informed immediately?"  
"Stark has paid-"  
"I don't give a damn if he paid them or what he paid them with! The boy must go back to his relatives and go back to England and that's final. I want to know where I can meet them."

"I don't think it would do much good at this point, sir. The boy's relatives were abusive. Stark is compiling a case against them now. Stark gave them access to one of his jets just to get them out of his way for the moment. They are vacationing in Hawaii. He is planning on dealing with them on a very public scale in a matter of time."

"I don't give a damn how public Stark wants to get! This situation must be handled with delicacy! And delicacy means privately! An international crisis will occur if Harry Potter isn't returned to the U.K. _by_ the New Year- preferably before Christmas! I cannot risk the safety of my country nor can I guarantee the safety of the boy or country if the boy stays. I had an official inquiry from the British Government about him this morning! In fact, they are sending a representative over to emphasize their point and to keep an eye on things! He wasn't supposed to leave Great Britain under any circumstances and now that he has they are anxious to know his whereabouts and why their safeguard has failed."

"How did he get past British security if the government did not want him to leave the country? Has he entered the country illegally?"

"Unfortunately no, Kingsley has done some research on his end and I have checked with JFK, his relatives had purchased him a plane ticket and had appropriate documentation. He had travel restrictions placed on him, but it was not appropriately reported to TSA. I was informed that he was questioned by the officers at JFK concerning a family member but they let him go when the boy refused to cooperate, insisting everything was fine. Had they known of his travel limitations they would have detained him and sent him back immediately. _However,_ since they did not catch this, he's legal, meaning we will have to deport him through other means."

"Kingsley?"

"A cousin of mine. He works for a top secret government sector in Great Britain, contacted me this morning to inform me that I had Harry Potter in my country. Warned me that if any harm, whatsoever, came to him before he could be extradited, I would be held responsible." Fury growled out while glaring at Phil with his good eye. It was clear Nick wasn't liking the situation much.

"Does this have anything to do with the murder of his mother and step-father?" Phil asked trying to understand the situation but watched as Fury come undone at his question. He did not know anything about this murderer- his backstory, or his current whereabouts but if the boy was being targeted then all the precautions would make sense.

"Does it have anything- _Of course_ it has to do with the killing of those two! It has _every_ -damn- _thing_ to do with the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Potter! Up until around ten years ago, England was in the middle of a Civil War of sorts, and his parents were the last two people killed by the resistance. According to Kingsley, it was a dark and uncertain time for many and many good, innocent people- including the Potter's- were targeted because they refused to side with this maniac who was determined to take over Great Britain and enslave much of its population.'

'The boy was the target, but his parents, guardians, whatever they were calling themselves, sacrificed their lives so that Harry Potter could somehow bring down the leader of one, if not the biggest, warlord of the twentieth century. Potter is the only person in Great Britain known to have survived an encounter with him, and come out both alive and sane enough to tell the story. No one really knows how he managed but the boy's famous for it. Kingsley says Dumbledore has a theory but not everyone agrees with it."

"Dumbledore?"

"A man who has a lot of influence within MI7."  
"I thought MI7 phased out after the Second World War."

" _It_ _did_ " The exasperation was clear in Nick's voice. "but reformed sometime between then and now. Its sole purpose now is to take down this megalomaniac who calls himself Lord Voldemort. Kingsley did not divulge the details and I did not ask. Just said that Dumbledore, specifically, was anxious to get the boy back in the event that any rogues managed to flee after this Voldemort's downfall found out that he was left largely unprotected and come searching for him."

"Wouldn't all of this fall under MI5's jurisdiction?"

"I don't know what it falls under! All I know is I have a boy who happens to be the target of some terrorist group and we do not have the capabilities available to us to deal with them. These people, they are anything but average. They employ means and have weapons at their disposal that the average person cannot even begin to understand."

"The Avengers are not your average group of people." Phil reminded Nick, but Nick just waved it off. "S.H.I.E.L.D., much less the Avengers would not stand a chance against them."

The office went quiet for several moments before Phil spoke again.

"Correct me if I am wrong but wouldn't MI7 place the boy under some sort of witness protection program?"

"Of sorts, which is why they want him back. My cousin has been working for the better part of the decade to try to capture the remaining extremist. Dumbledore, who managed to defeat another terrorist many years ago believes that the Potter boy is safest with his mother's relatives, as she alone can protect him in a way no one else can. I do not think that even Stark will be able to protect the child in that manner."

"So, who's going to tell Stark?" Phil was not fully convinced that Harry should return with his Aunt and Uncle who he was somehow safer with in spite of their negligent tendencies but if they were able to offer some sort of protection that the Avengers couldn't it might be best. Some sort of surveillance system could be easily arranged to prevent or discourage future abuse, something Stark would undoubtedly insist upon and would without a doubt invent the system himself.

The boy would be all right and taken care of when he returned to his relatives if certain measures were taken, of that, Phil was certain. But would their measures now be able to withstand long term? For a while measures such as these would keep the Dursley's at bay but eventually, they were bound to try their luck and push it by doing something against the child in question.

"I will if it will move things along." Came a contemptuous voice from behind Phil.

Phil turned around while Nick walked over to the newcomer who's pale features stood out in stark contrast to his black attire. The man could have been labeled as a Goth if he was younger.

"You must be the representative Kingsley mentioned," Nick said trying to get a read on the man in front of him. The man appeared to be exceptionally good at controlling his facial expressions.

"Maybe I am, maybe I am not. What is it to you, who I am? Now, tell me where the brat is so I can go about my holiday in peace."  
"I give the orders around here, now who are you? And did or did Kingsley not send you?" demanded Fury.  
"Severus Snape. And it was Albus Dumbledore who _requested_ that I give up some of my holiday so that he can keep a close reign on the dunderhead. Never mind that this was supposed to be my break from him and his equally irritating friends," Snape sneered out. "Some of us do have better things to do with our time than to chase around and coddle school aged brats who can't get it through their _thick skull to_ not _do anything stupid_. Now, where is he so I can check on... Potter and return to my holiday making."  
"You speak as if you know the boy. Director Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D." Nick said by way of introduction but did not give any more details about the child. He was going to get more answers before he told this man where the child was at. His cousin had been less than helpful in providing useful information on the boy.  
"Unfortunately," responded the unpleasant man without giving any further explanation.

That's okay, two could play this game.

"Kingsley Shacklebolt told me that the boy was to return to Great Britain at the earliest convenience. Will you be taking him with you?"

"I will do no such thing, _thank you_ very much. Where is Petunia Dursley? Surely she was made aware that the boy wasn't to leave England. She's the boy's guardian, after all, making him her headache, and most importantly her responsibility. _Not_ mine!" Snape leered at the two agents. No matter what Albus Dumbledore or Arabella Figg said, Snape refused to believe that the boy was anything but pampered. Anything less than that would have Lily rolling in her grave.

He remembered how foul her sister had been, but that had been years ago. The woman _must_ have lost her childish ways of thinking and grown up. Surely not even Petunia could despise her dead sister so much as treat the child as unfairly as everyone claimed.

He had probably told Figg that his relatives were making him work just to seek out attention and as for Dumbledore, the old fool treated the boy like a favored grandson who could say and do no wrong.

Well, Severus Snape sure had something to say about that!

"Mr. Snape, Phil Coulson, a field agent for Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate, or S.H.I.E.L.D. I have just come back from meeting Mr. Potter. Perhaps you have not been made aware that his relatives _sold_ Mr. Potter to Mr. Stark. Demanded the boy's father pay them a million in American dollars, just this morning. The selling of any human being to another in the United States is illegal and is punishable by law, even if it is to another, more well-meaning, family member. Even prior to the "sell" Mr. Stark is legally responsible for Mr. Potter's well being. He was never made aware of the issue concerning the boy's travel limitations as he was among the last to find out about the boy's existence."

"That's not my problem. Obviously, the boy's _father_ is to be blamed. He shouldn't have given them the money, but of course, Potter's father would throw around his wealth. What use is having money if you can't rub it into everyone's faces? And then to brag of your superiority." Snape quickly dismissed the issue at hand with a curl of his upper lip.

"No, it most certainly isn't your problem," Nick said through nearly clenched teeth, the man's attitude was getting them nowhere, but he needed to know what their next move was to be. Was the kid going back to England now, or was S.H.I.E.L.D. going to have to watch the kid until someone who was _willing_ to take the kid off their hands came along? And when would said willing person come along? If that was the case then someone was going to have to tell Stark about the boy's abilities.

"On the contrary, Mr. Snape, Mr. Stark did not give the Dursley's the money to _flaunt_ his wealth," Phil spoke up.

"I bet that the boy's father told you that," Snape said scornfully.

Good lord, this man! Just what had happened to this man to make him hate the child so much? The level of disdain and hatred this man possessed against the child was not natural and mildly worrisome.  
"The Dursley's wanted to take this to the press and what Mr. Stark gave them was hush-money. Mr. Stark would have met any price to prevent this being leaked."

Snape snorted and mumbled something suspiciously along the lines of "I am sure," but did not make further comment.

Finally, after the three men were able to come to an agreement, Nick told Severus where the boy was being kept. "You will find the boy at Stark Tower."

Snape sent Nick a blistering glare. "And I am supposed to know where that is?"

"200 Park Avenue. You cannot miss it. It has Stark written on it." Phil said with a smirk knowing that would infuriate the man even more.  
Snape did not give them further satisfaction in the form of comment as he turned around on his heel and stalked out of the room leaving just Phil and Nick alone again.

The two S.H.I.E.L.D agents shared loaded looks as the door closed. Phil would have to go back later and stress the delicacy of this matter if he wasn't called before to do damage control. But for now, he would wait, give them time to get over their initial shock.

ⅤΛⅤΛⅤ

"Sir, someone is coming up," JARVIS announced while Tony had been trying to wheedle out of Harry what he wanted for Christmas. It was quickly approaching and Tony did not have a clue as to what his son liked or disliked.

The only thing Tony knew Harry needed was clothes, and while he was sure to get some, Christmas wasn't about getting what you needed, it was about getting what you wanted and Tony, having the monetary means to do precisely that, was determined to get an idea as to what Harry liked so that he could surprise him come Christmas morning.

At the moment though, all talks about Christmas and presents were put on hold, as they waited for their unannounced guest to make an appearance, say what they wanted to say, and leave.

Tony did not have to wait long, less than a minute, the elevator doors opened and let out a man who had the prowl of a panther.  
Harry who had been sitting on the couch doing nothing, tensed when he saw who it was.

Snape.

And by the looks of it, Harry was sure that if he had been at Hogwarts, he would have just landed a month's worth of detention and probably lost his house 150 points or some other equally astronomical number that didn't even fit the transgression.

"Snape," Harry said in a flat tone that lacked all respect. Tony raised an eyebrow at his son's sudden change in demeanor. He had come to find out that the kid still had a bit of fire left to him and that he wasn't completely broken which was good. But at the same time, Harry had never been outright hostile towards an adult, of course, Tony hadn't known Harry for any significant amount of time, so he could only go on what he'd observed in the past few hours.

To see Harry take issue with the man in front of him, put Tony on edge and caused him to get defensive.

"It's _Professor_ to you. Can't stay out of trouble can you Mr. Potter? You think that just because you are our _little celebrity_ that rules don't apply to you." The man sneered while eyeing the other people in the room which was just Tony, Bruce, Steve, and Natasha at the moment.

"I did not ask for any of this," Harry said while clenching his fist in his lap. "Dumbledore told me that because my aunt was my legal guardian I could not stay at school for Christmas."  
" _Professor_ , Potter."  
"There's no need to call me a Professor," Harry said cheekily knowing that Snape couldn't do anything about it here and no matter how unfair Snape might be, Harry doubted that Snape could do anything about it even once he got back to Hogwarts. What happened over Christmas break and in the comfort of one's own home was outside of Hogwarts jurisdiction. Right?

Bruce blinked, he'd never seen this sassy side of Harry before he wasn't the only one. The other adults were looking at Harry and the man they only knew as Snape with varying looks of surprise and suspicion.

"Just like your father aren't you?" Severus' voice positively dripped with loathing.

"I wouldn't know, _sir_ considering James isn't actually my father.. _."_

"Harry do you know this man?" _His_ father broke in. Demanding, but not entirely angry.

Tony wasn't sure how he liked being compared to his son's stepfather. He obviously would have owed the man a great deal had he been alive, but then again, would he? If the man had been alive? Would he have owed James Potter anything?  
"Yeah." Harry responded with a nearly inaudible "unfortunately" tacked onto the end.

"He teaches... chemistry at the school I attend. But I don't know why he's here." Harry responded still looking heatedly at his professor.  
"Still just as much of an attention seeker, aren't you Mr. Potter? Lying will get you in a lot of trouble one of these days. Mark. My. Words.'

'What your _son_ meant to say was that I am a Potions master and am a professor at the school the boy attends." Harry's jaw just dropped. Then and there as he stared incredulously at the potion's master.

Here he had thought it was illegal- well perhaps not _illegal,_ illegal- but there were definitely rules dissuade one from telling non-magic folks about magic and his professor had just dropped the news to them. Snape had to have broken at least a half-a-dozen laws right now and probably just as many international laws by admitting that witches and wizards existed.

Snape noticed. "Contrary, Mr. Potter, we are allowed to tell muggles about witchcraft and wizardry if their child is accepted into our school."

Harry didn't think it was wise to tell ornery old bat that most of the people in the room weren't related to him.

"A potions master? What is this? Some kind of sorcery? Are you some kind of witch?" Tony asked innocently while giving Harry a conspiratorial teasing wink from the corner of his eye. So his dad knew about witches and wizards then, or at least, Tony knew that the man in front of him wasn't.

Harry stifled laughter at the look of pure hatred on Snape's face but his laughter was quickly ebbed by the blonde man's steely look he was sending Harry.

"You didn't tell me your son was an up and coming Loki," Steve said. His voice practically overlapping Tony's. His tone was full of distrust and everyone seemed to tense at the very mention of Loki that Harry refused to look at anyone opting to look at the floor. It had become somewhat of a survival mechanism for him when he had lived with his uncle. At least the floor couldn't accuse him of doing freakish things, or intentionally misinterpret looks and then lock him up the cupboard.

"He's not Loki or anything like him. He might have the dark hair and the green eyes, but no son of mine, sorcerer or not is going to be compared to Loki."

Harry looked confused at the direction the conversation had turned looked up. "Who is Loki?"  
"The God of Mischief you dunderhead, and if I was not sure of Potter's murder, I would accuse James of being Loki. He sure had the looks, the gall, and the knack!" Snape snarled out.

Harry flinched before looking mutinously at his most hated professor.  
Natasha spoke up in a tone that as cool as Severus' tone was heated. "'Scuse me, if you are the boy's teacher then is it not your responsibility to build your students up? All I have heard from you is the child can't do this or the boy does that. You have openly insulted the boy by calling him names, which is very childish of you. Harry has been through enough in the past twenty-four hours without having a professor drag him down. It's been proven that the child is not the son of Loki, no matter what sort of mischief the child gets himself into. As an _educator,_ you should be aware that boys his age do get into mischief from time to time."  
"Thank you, Natasha, couldn't have put it better myself. Now, what did you say you were doing here again?" Tony said pulling Harry, who had stood up, back down on the couch and waving his hand to let Severus know that he was free to sit down as well while they talked this out.

"Are you just as dense as your son? What part of your _son_ is a _wizard_ is too hard for you to understand?" Snape said softly belying his true feelings. He was not just going to accept that this man was just going to accept what he just said without demanding some proof. All muggles demanded proof when they were first informed.

"Oh, I understand all of it. I merely find that it explains a lot. Why Harry has an owl and _why_ , when I ask him about his school he never gives a name or can give me an exact location. It is probably the reason why he seemed so shocked when you corrected him earlier and why he refuses to tell me anything else about the man who killed his mother and stepfather as I assume the man was also a wizard. I am surprised, I did not see this coming actually."  
Harry couldn't believe the barely concealed look of shock on Severus' face when Tony told him that he didn't care that Harry was a wizard and hadn't asked for him to do any "magic tricks" to prove it. In fact, none of Tony's friends seemed to be too surprised by the idea. Truthfully, they seemed to just accept it they were used to magic and magic wielding people- but that couldn't be right. Right?

Just wait until he told Ron about it. He would _never_ believe that Snape was capable of showing surprise.  
Snape scoffed at the billionaire in response. "Surprised, he says. And just how did _you_ a _muggle_ find out about magic?"  
"Sometimes the only logical answer to the unexplainable is magic," Bruce said speaking up for the first time. He sort of seemed to be the voice of reason. "If we just took the time to look around, we would notice a lot of things that would define the laws of science. Magic would be the only plausible explanation." He concluded with a shrug.

"Did you know about magic then?" Harry asked looking at Bruce now but it was Natasha that answered.

"I think we all _knew_ about magic. We did defeat Loki with the help of Thor after all, but to find that there are whole populations of people who are born with magic. No, we have never encountered people of your kind living here in Midgard."  
"What's a muggle? I keep hearing the word, but I don't know what that is." Tony asked, completely confused by the term but eager to learn about what natural-born witches and wizards that weren't psychotic God's who were dead-set to take over mankind.

"People who don't have magic," Harry said feeling a sense of déjà vu it felt just like yesterday when Hagrid was telling him the same thing and here he was telling his _father_ of all people what a Muggle was.

"So that would mean I am a muggle," Tony validated.

Harry nodded his head vigorously.

Snape sneered again at the scene that was unfolding before him but felt that he had gathered enough information about the blasted child to be able to report back to Dumbledore. _Maybe_ just _maybe_ Dumbledore would accept that the boy was safer in America than he ever would be in England and allow the boy to remain here with his father. As it currently stood, Hogwarts was only opened to students who lived in the U.K., if the boy's relatives did not want anything to do with him and had shipped him off to America, then going to school at Hogwarts was no longer an option.

Potter's withdraw from the school would mean one less dunderhead that he would have to deal with.

Harry to engrossed with trying to explain the basics of the British magical community to his father that he did not notice Snape stealing away.

"...and a Muggle-born is a witch or wizard who is born to muggle parents."  
"So you're a muggle-born, right? I mean I am a muggle and Lily was- she was a muggle wasn't she?"  
"Um, actually I am a half-blood. Meaning that I have one magical parent. Mum was a witch, but _she_ was a muggle-born. Aunt Petunia was always jealous because mum was a witch and she wasn't. I think she wanted to become a witch like mum was but couldn't. Some witches and wizards would still call me muggle-born 'cause my grandparents and great-grandparents were all muggles, and I don't come from a long line of wizards and witches but..."

"So because your aunt did not possess any magical ability she took her jealousy out on you, but she hates everything associated with magic because she wanted to possess magic," Steve said calmly. "Odd woman."

"Er, I _think_ so. I actually only found out that I was a wizard on my eleventh birthday. That's when we get our acceptance letters to Hogwarts. Hagrid, the groundskeeper at school, gave me my acceptance letter after Uncle Vernon kept trying to burn them... I don't think Aunt Petunia wanted me to know."

"Sounds like your uncle didn't want you to know either," Tony muttered more to himself than anyone. Louder he said, "It's not fair that she took out her anger and hate for your mother out on you. Did she even know you had the ability to wield magic? And for the record, I think is totally awesome by the way."  
"She knew. Just 'cause we start school at eleven doesn't always mean that's when our magic appears. I have had the ability to work magic ever since I remember. One time I grew my hair back overnight after Aunt Petunia cut it because she didn't like it. I got in trouble for it even though I didn't know how I did it. She never told me how my parents died either. I found out from Hagrid that they were murdered. They always told me that dad had been drunk at the time of the car crash." Harry didn't miss how Tony winced at the mentioning of being drunk. He wondered if his- _this_ dad drank.  
Sounds like she's a lovely woman," Natasha said dryly at the same time Tony sent her a look that Harry couldn't decipher but she just gave a single nod in understanding.

But Harry wasn't finished, even if that little exchange between Tony and Natasha was.

"I was so relieved to find out that mum and dad weren't actually..." Harry said clearly remembering the relief he felt when he learned the truth about his parents. "The few times Aunt Petunia would talk about mum and dad she never said anything nice about them. And Uncle Vernon liked to make it to where I was the cause of my dad's drinking problem. And that I would never be anything more than a criminal when I grow up because that was what my dad was."  
"That's wrong! How could they blame that on an innocent child‽" Pepper cried out at the same time Tony winced again. He really was going to have to watch his drinking around Harry. The way those relatives had been talking, he wouldn't put it past Harry to think that he was drinking because of Harry.

"I dunno, but I guess I sort of, kind of, believed them, you know?" Muttered Harry somewhat ashamed that he had allowed himself to think so ill of his parents who had sacrificed their lives for him. "A small part of me didn't want to believe but... They never told me the truth, they just said that dad was a no-good father and mum wasn't much better. I wasn't allowed to ask questions about them and they never had any pictures of them so I really didn't have anything to remember them by until Hagrid gave me a photo book at the end of my first year. It was always the rule for as long as I remember to, um, to never ask questions." Harry said by way of explanation now he seemed to be almost in a trance-like state as he recalled the rules his aunt and uncle had insisted on.

"How did they expect you to learn? Isn't it part of growing up to ask questions?"

Harry shrugged, "not with the Dursley's. I do ask questions at school though…"

"What happened if you did ask a question," Steve asked softly while his jaw clenched waiting for the answer that he was sure none of them would like.

"Well, normally if it's Hermione, she just shows me where I can find it in a book, and the Professors usually just answer the question, unless it's Snape, who will just take points off because he thinks I'm stupid and because he can." Harry intentionally misinterpreted the question.

"I will admit every time you talk about that guy, I like him less and less, but he is your teacher so I suppose, at least to his face, you will have to show him respect," Tony said "But I think what Capcicle meant was what did your relatives do when you asked a question? Did they punish you?"

Harry looked down at his hands as shame flooded him. "Sometimes I'd get slapped if I asked my aunt anything. But usually, I'd get…" Harry trailed off. He couldn't tell them. If they just _knew_.

"What did they do to you, Harry?" Steve asked again just as Bruce left the room while trying to take deep calming breaths. He wouldn't "lose it" in front of an abused and likely traumatized boy. No one stopped him, but Bruce did feel a few eyes following him.

"They…" Harry started but hesitated, not wanting the people to think of him as being weak and an easy target to pick on.

Suddenly a phone began to sound off, cutting through the tense atmosphere like a hot knife to butter. Frowning at the sudden disturbance, Pepper sighed. "I sorry, Harry but I must take this." and left the room with her phone pressed to her ear, already arguing with the person on the other line.

"Kid?" Tony asked noticing that Natasha and Steve also left the room. To where it was only Tony and him.

"Sometimes they'd lock me up in my room." Safe. Play it safe. Tony didn't need to know that his room had been the cupboard for most of his early childhood and the cupboard _had_ been a room- just not a very big one- so to say he was locked up in a room wasn't _that_ much of a stretch.

"How long would they keep you locked up?" Tony said while casting Harry a side-long look as he was pouring himself another cup of coffee, he was pouring himself another cup of coffee- even if it was approaching two in the afternoon. He really would have wanted something a good bit stronger but...

"Not for long, you know, I mean, just, it was just for a while, okay? Just until they felt that I had learned my lesson."

"And how often did they try to 'teach you' these lessons?" Tony urged.  
"Just when I was being bad," Harry said softly. Not looking at Tony.

"And how often was _that_?" He pressed again but this time he pushed too far.

"Just when I was bad, all right‽ What's with all the questions?" Harry said aggressively before looking defiantly at Tony, the man calmly met his gaze while holding his palms out in a placating gesture. Harry quickly looked away.

"I am sorry to pry Harry, but if we are to get to know each other we will have to ask questions and sometime we might ask each other questions we might not feel comfortable answering. Remember when I told you that we are going to get through this together and how we are bound to make mistakes. We've just got to forgive each other and move on. But you know what? Now I know that you don't want to talk about the Dursleys, not at the moment, at least. Even if you don't directly answer my questions, I am still learning about you, and you, me."

Harry stared incredulously at the man. Where had _that_ come from? This man had just given a somewhat passionate speech instead of walloping Harry because he had let his temper get the best of him like his uncle was sure to have done. Harry had yelled at the man but Tony had barely even batted an eye.

Tony also appeared a bit shocked- quite possibly at himself- before his face almost split with a self-satisfied smirk. He was _totally_ going to get used to this whole fatherhood thing he was Tony Stark after all and he did not fail in any of his endeavors.

"Um, okay," Harry said. What else was there to say?

"Well," Tony said while taking a particularly long drink of his coffee. "I think that's enough touchy-feely stuff for one day. I'll be down in the lab if you need anything. If you need any help ask J.A.R.V.I.S.." and with that, his father bailed the room leaving Harry alone to his own devices.

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	5. Chapter Four

**Disclaimers:** I am not making any money off of this story, so any mistakes are my own. Therefore, I cannot be the owner of the Marvel or Harry Potter universes, _that_ honor goes to their respective creators.

I know nothing about optometry, so I writing is based on experience.

 **A/N:** I'm a horrible person for taking so long to update, but yeah. All spelling mistakes are mine.

Ⅴ **ΛⅤΛⅤ**

 **[Chapter Four]** Time Spent Together

The world, as Harry knew it, was falling apart at the seams.

For nearly two days since that conversation, Harry had been trying to comprehend his father's apparent non-reaction to the news of him being an up-and-coming wizard.

And for almost two days, his father and occasionally, one of his father's friends, would come by his room and check on him. They never entered, although Harry knew that they could and would if they truly wanted to. Instead, they respected his privacy and desire to be left alone and always stood outside his closed door. They would talk to him through the door, and ask if he was hungry or needed anything, but otherwise left him alone.

While Harry appreciated it, he wondered how long it would last. It had already gone on longer than it would have had he been at the Dursley's, as odd as it sounded. Even though the Dursley's hated his guts, someone had to weed the garden and make sure the shed outback had a fresh coat of paint.

Harry would always respond that he was fine and that he didn't need anything. And yes, he knew that he was free to join them at any time and to come to find him (Tony) if he needed anything, or ask JARVIS.

Everything Harry had known to be true suddenly wasn't.

It was sort of hard to explain because Harry didn't understand it himself. But he supposed it had started when Tony had just accepted that his son was a wizard.

 _"And for the record, I think it's totally awesome, by the way."_ Tony Stark had said.

That was the line that kept repeating in Harry's head as he stared out of his window, over the tops of neighboring skyscrapers, and into the buildings in the distance, not really looking at anything in particular as he allowed his thoughts to stray.

 _"...I think it's totally awesome..."_

There was no question about what the "it" was.

Tony Stark, his _father_ , thought that his magic was "awesome."

Harry couldn't comprehend it. Couldn't wrap his mind around it. Why would Tony think his magic was "awesome?"

No one, or at least, no muggle he had ever been around, had ever thought magic was "awesome." Of course, that really did not amount to much as the only muggles he'd been around (excluding the few minutes he was around Mr. and Mrs. Granger) that actually knew about magic or anything was the Dursely's. They, for the record, _hated_ magic.

Even Harry didn't think magic was "awesome" sometimes. For all Tony knew, magic could be a burden. It _was_ a burden. Harry's ability to wield magic had caused him nothing but grief and pain since his parents died. In a way, it was because he was born with magic running through his veins that "marked him" as Voldemort's equal. He didn't want to be anyone's equal, especially Voldemort's. He just wanted to be himself.

Harry knew, logically, he should be relieved that the man just accepted it and didn't get angry or annoyed that Harry had something he didn't, but Snape, (as much as he hated to admit it) was right. Why was Tony just accepting it without proof or any questions? Didn't all muggles require visual evidence that magic existed? Even Hermione's parents, as well as Hermione- herself- had requested that they see a sample of magic before hearing more about Hogwarts. The only muggles Harry had ever known not demand proof that magic existed was his aunt, uncle, and cousin, as they were too fearful of what magic could do. But they were shown anyway by an upset Hagrid, who had tried to turn his cousin into a pig. Only for the half-giant to fail in turning his cousin into an _actual_ pig despite giving Dudley a very authentic pig's tail.

Tony hadn't asked that Harry or the Potion's master to transfigure his coffee maker into a dog or a cat (though Snape would probably go for the snake, simply because it was Slytherin's mascot and all). It was perhaps best since his father seemed to be somewhat addicted to the bitter drink that the Americans seemed to be so fond of.

Harry knew it could be worse, though, Tony could be like his uncle, who would occasionally drink after a particularly rough day at work. Then in his drunken stupor, his uncle would knock Harry around while his aunt would usher Dudley and herself out of the house so that they wouldn't have to witness his uncle's wrath.

Lucky them.

The only adverse reaction he had gotten from any of them about magic was Steve trying to accuse him of being a younger version of Loki since he apparently shared some similar physical traits. Like green eyes and dark hair.

Harry didn't know much about Loki, other than he was the Norse God of Mischief, and had caused a great deal of damage to NYC, according to Tony.

Harry sighed. Again, it could have always been worst, but Harry would have still preferred if it people would stop trying to compare him to others. He wasn't his dad, his mum, or even Loki. He was his own person; he was Harry Potter, son of James and Lily, or stepson of James.

While everyone was reasonably kind to him, Harry knew they were only doing it out of respect for Tony. Harry knew that they did not know what to think of him. Not really. They were wary of him- of what he could potentially do. It was almost like living with the Dursley's again, except without the violence, but Harry hated it. They hadn't bothered him per se, but Harry knew they would be watching him closely, waiting for a moment where he slipped up and did something that would confirm their suspicions.

The comment about him being an "up and coming Loki" was proof of that. He supposed it didn't _really_ matter, as long as Tony was fine with magic, but Harry found that he wanted them to like him. Maybe it stemmed from never having the Dursley's approval, and Harry knew that he wouldn't truly feel comfortable around Tony without the others' acceptance first, as pathetic as that sounded. He was the Boy-Who-Lived; he had managed to survive what no one else had survived. He shouldn't care about what people thought of him.

But he did, all thanks to the Dursley's who liked to make him feel worthless.

So, Harry, who was so used to feeling worthless, was desperately clinging on to the hope that maybe, just maybe someone would see him for something else.

He hoped he would find that "something else" in Tony, but he wasn't sure even sure what he was looking for. Maybe it was acceptance, but Harry knew it was more than just that.

"So kiddo, are we just going to sit and brood all day, or are we going to get up and do something?" Tony asked while leaning against the door frame of his room.

Harry spooked, having not heard Tony.

Usually, he knew when someone was coming. At the Dursley's, no one particularly cared about being quiet, at least, for his sake. Of course, it was hard to tiptoe around when you were roughly the size of a whale- but that was beside the fact- and his aunt walked about as light as a standard heavy draft horse. And at Hogwarts, it was almost impossible to hear any single person as everyone was always running around everywhere. It also made it a bit difficult to sneak up on anyone too. Or maybe that was just the Gryffindors. Either way, Harry was not used to people just sneaking upon him. But that seemed to be all everyone did here at Stark Tower, and it was seriously starting to bug him. It was almost like they had an unspoken goal between them to see how many times they could sneak up on him, or catch him off guard. And so far, they were excelling at it.

After Harry managed to shake off the scare, he just shrugged his shoulders. _He_ had no problem staying in his room all-day- he had done plenty of that at the Dursley's, and the room he had at the Dursley's was about three times as small as the one he was given here. Not to mention that he had his own attached bath, so the only thing he would need is food, and he knew first hand that he could go a few days without that, so in all honesty, he was prepared to isolate himself in his room.

"Hey, what's with the shrug?" Tony said while looking expectantly at Harry.  
"How can you, you know?" Harry said vaguely while gesturing with his hand as if to emphasize what he was saying.

"Can't say I do, kiddo. I am going to need to know more if you want me to answer your question. How can I do what?"  
"How can you be okay with it? That I'm a wizard? No one's ever been okay with it before."  
Tony sighed; he knew this question would probably come up sooner rather than later and had been trying to think of an answer. He wasn't trying to figure out what he thought Harry wanted to hear, as Tony genuinely wished to reassure his son that he had no problems with him being able to wield magic (so long as he didn't use his powers to take over the world).

"There is always a first time for everything." Tony countered thoughtfully, before turning serious.

"As for your question as to why I'm okay with it. That is a bit harder to answer. I would be kind of hypocritical if I wasn't okay with it, don't you think? What with me being a superhero and all. Besides, what kind of dad would I be if I wasn't proud of my son's accomplishments? Not everyone can control magic, I would know. I think the best thing I can do as your father is to understand and accept our differences.'

Walking further into the room, Tony stopped about a foot away from Harry.

'I really want this to work, Harry. I don't know why I feel this way, only that I do. But for it to work out between us, as father and son, we need to open and honest with each other. I'm not saying you have to tell me everything- far from it, but if it's something big, I want you to feel like you can tell me. I don't want you to be afraid to come to me, or any of the other guys if you need us."  
Tony felt like he'd be saying something like this often. On the books, he had had JARVIS pull- they had all said that abused kids (or in his son's case, suspected abuse) needed lots of reassurances.

Harry bit his lip but nodded when he realized that Tony was probably waiting for a verbal response- not that nodding was an actual verbal response. But whatever. It was the best he could do at the moment.

He knew he was acting like a brat by keeping himself locked away in his room when he should have been getting to know Tony, but Harry reasoned that they both needed time to come to terms with everything.

Of course, Tony would probably need more time than him, since he had not only learned that he had a son, but also his son could perform magic.

Or maybe that was just him who needed time, as Tony seemed overly eager to spend more time with Harry.

"So, what do you say we go out and do something?"

"Don't you have to work or something?" He countered, really wanting to be left alone with his thoughts again. He, alone, apparently, needed time.

"Nah, everything I could be doing can wait," Tony said while pulling out his phone and flipping rapidly through various screens, probably trying to make spur of the moment plans for the day.

"Oh," came the reply. Guess, Harry wasn't going to be allowed to sit and wallow in his thoughts after all.

"Come on, grab your coat, and let's go. I think I'll drive today- take you out in one of the sports cars."  
Left with no other choice, he sighed and excused himself to get ready and grab his coat.

When he was finally ready, Harry exited the bathroom and found Tony lounging in a chair waiting on him.

"I'm ready," Harry announced, lamely unsure as to what to say. Anyone with two eyes could see that quite clearly as he was now wearing his heavy winter jacket and warm pants. It was another cold day. Tony's eyes snapped up from his phone looking Harry over critically for a minute before nodding, Harry could only guess his approval, or maybe he had made up his mind as to what they were doing today.

Standing up and stretching, Tony pocketed his phone and ushered Harry out of the room.

"So, what are we doing?" Harry asked curiously.

"I figured we'd grab a bite to eat-" Seeing Harry's face, Tony quickly backtracked, "We won't go to the same restaurant as before. Not that it would matter, the Dursley's are in Hawaii right now, so the chances of you running into them again are zero. But I thought since you haven't eaten in almost a day, it might be nice to grab something. Besides, I'm getting kind of hungry myself, and I reckon that if I am getting hungry, my son must be too." Tony lied. He wasn't hungry, he'd had his coffee, and that would tie him over until the next pot. But Bruce had warned him yesterday that his unhealthy eating habits were going to have to change, because, otherwise, Harry would assume that it was okay to skip meals and it wasn't. The boy was already much too waif-like for anyone to be comfortable with.

The two of them walked to the elevator, and Tony pressed the button that would take them to the garage, and they rode the ride down in silence.

Arriving at the car park, Tony lazily pursued his collection of cars. Every so often, he'd glance at Harry taking in his facial expressions. Harry seemed torn between awe and shock, Tony observed with smug pride. Although it was pretty obvious, Harry didn't know he was looking at some collectible, rare cars. Tony would be all too happy to educate Harry on that front.

"What do you say we take this one?" Tony said after a few more seconds.

Harry simply nodded, not really knowing or caring why this car had been the one Tony had chosen. It kind of looked like the other cars in the room, sleek, modern, and extremely low to the ground. Other than that, Harry couldn't say what model of car it was or who made it.

"Great," Tony said while holding the passenger door open for Harry to slide in. Once Harry was in the seat, Tony closed the door and slid in on the driver's side and started the car.

Harry noticed that the interior of the car carried the same theme on the outside: sleek and modern.

Neither of them spoke as Tony focused on the sea of cars around him, and Harry drank in the sight of the city for the second (third time if you count the first taxi ride over) time.

Tony must have known the metropolis very well to be able to effortlessly weave his way around traffic and find his way around the large city.

When they finally arrived at the eatery that Tony had in mind, instead of pulling up to the curb like the other day, Tony found parking a short distance away, and the two walked to the restaurant.

The whole walk to the restaurant, Tony struggled with the desire to sling an arm around Harry to proclaim to the world that Harry was his son. He refrained, though, not knowing how Harry would take it. Besides, there would be plenty of time for that later.

The two of them walked into the restaurant and were quickly seated in a little private alcove, per Tony's request.

From there, Tony had taken to look over the menu spouting off somethings he thought Harry might like. All of them were very safe options Harry noticed, but relatively pricey.

By the time the waiter had come for their drink order, Harry had all but given up deciding on what he wanted to eat. He would have been okay with the cheapest thing on the menu- a sandwich, but Tony wouldn't hear of it.

"Get something else, Harry. You want to get something that will fill you up, and a sandwich," Tony said with a shake of his head, "will not fill you up."  
Harry heaved a resigning sigh, he wasn't all that hungry, but he doubted Tony would bother listening to him if he mentioned it.

Harry decided he'd go with the least expensive non-sandwich item on the menu.

Tony having caught on immediately to what Harry was doing frowned but ordered it for him anyway.

The two sat in relative awkward silence for a minute after the waiter had left, before striking up a conversation.

"So now that's taken care of, what do you want to do today?" Tony said while taking a long drink from his cup of coffee. Harry wondered if coffee was the only thing the man drank.

Harry blinked in shock, he had thought Tony had plans for the day, but he guessed not. Maybe it was all a ruse just to get him out of the room. And as mad as Harry wanted to be, Tony was right, even if he hadn't outright said it. Harry was selfish for no reason.

"I thought you had plans?"

Tony looked kind of guilty for a moment causing Harry to frown. What did the man have planned?

"Well, I did have JARVIS set you up an appointment with the optometrist, as I noticed you seem to squint quite a bit, and since you are my son, I figured, I ought to do something about it. But that won't be for a few hours yet, so we will have time to kill before then. I suppose I'll have to make you a doctor's appointment as well to make sure those _pigs didn't_ harm you in any way." Tony continued to muse out loud while looking at Harry for his input.

"You set an eye appointment up?" Harry clarified, a bit confused, why the man would care whether he could see or not? I mean, he guessed it was nice that someone would care enough about him to make sure he could actually see, but it was strange. The Dursley's never cared whether or not he could see. Harry had a sneaking suspicion that the only reason why his aunt even bothered taking him to get glasses out of the donation box was so that he could see to do his chores, and to get the primary teacher off their backs.

"I sure did. I'm sorry I didn't ask you first, but you seemed sort of preoccupied, and I wasn't sure if you wanted to be bothered. I figured even if the prescription was right, we could get you a couple of new pairs of glasses. You know one to wear and a spare or two; that way, if you broke a pair while playing Quidditch, you would have a backup pair on hand." Tony said although he seemed to have caught his mistake when Harry looked frantically around the restaurant to see if anyone was listening to their conversation.

"Sorry. I take it I wasn't supposed to mention that out loud, right?" Tony said softly just to where Harry could hear.

Harry shook his head, relieved that no one seemed to be paying them any mind.

"That pair you're wearing now looks like they are about to fall apart." Tony continued as if he never slipped up.

"Oh, okay, thanks, I guess. So what exactly will the appointment consist of?" Harry questioned uncertainty as he tried to ignore the blush on his cheeks. He'd never gotten his eyes checked before and wanted to know what it was like before it happened.

Tony's eyebrows shot up at the question before he slowly asked the question he wasn't sure he wanted the answer to.

"Have you never gotten your eyes checked before?"

"No. The Dursley's always said that they didn't have the money." Harry said. The Dursley's had never actually said that only that they didn't have the money to spend on getting glasses for him. Besides, what did they care if he could or could not see? It just furthered proved their point that he would never be as perfect as their precious son.

Tony made a rather rude noise before deciding just to wave Harry's comment about the Dursley's off, "never mind them now, Harry. You'll be getting your eyes checked today, and later we'll set up a time with my physician to make sure you are where you are supposed to be. He's on vacation at the moment, so that will be whenever he comes back."  
Harry and Tony discussed a bit more about what they might want to do to kill time before the eye appointment as they waited for their food to arrive.

When it finally did, the two ate in relative silence, both lost in their own thought, but Harry noticed Tony appeared to be watching him as he ate—quietly observing how Harry seemed to do more playing with his food than actual eating.

Harry hadn't even realized he had spent much of the mealtime just pushing his chicken around on his plate until Tony spoke.

"Try to eat a bit more than that, Harry. We're in no rush, and don't try to tell me you are not hungry. You haven't eaten anything all day."

Harry looked down at his half picked over plate in surprise. He didn't know if he could eat any more, he hadn't been really hungry before, and he certainly wasn't hungry now.

"I don't think I can," he muttered, looking down in shame. He knew he probably should be jumping at the chance to eat as he did when he was at the Dursley's, but he was too unsettled about the recent events to think clearly.

Tony looked at Harry for a moment before sitting back in his chair. "Okay. I'll admit, I know what it feels like to be pushed to eat when you don't want to, so I'm not going to force you. But if you get hungry, feel free to help yourself to any food you find."

Harry nodded his understanding while he pushed his plate away from him.

They waited a bit longer for the check before bundling up and started heading back to the car.

When they got situated inside the car with the heater on, providing them both with much-needed warmth, Harry turned to Tony.

"Would you- I mean, do you think it would be possible just to ride around?"  
"Sure, kiddo. Anything you want to do. Is there any place, in particular, you want to see or…" Tony trailed off, hoping that Harry would comment if there really was somewhere he wanted to go.

"No." Harry shook his head, "I don't think so." Harry said while looking out at the lingering snow that was still present in piles on the sidewalk that had been shoveled up to clear the paths. He was glad that he hadn't had to shovel all the snow like he had to do at the Dursley's when it fell and covered the driveway.

"How about I show you…." And for the next two hours, Tony and Harry drove around the city looking at various landmarks and cool buildings.

Then it was time for Harry's appointment, which he had secretly been dreading, out of fear for what it might consist of. Tony hadn't been overly descriptive when Harry had asked earlier, which made Harry apprehensive.

He knew he was probably being overdramatic and that it couldn't be _that_ bad, but he heard Dudley whine for hours afterward about how weird his eyes felt after his appointments.

Tony must have sensed Harry's uncertainty as he placed one hand on Harry's shoulder and steered him into the waiting room while he went and talked to the lady at the desk.

Harry chose a corner seat away from most of the others and waited for Tony to return, which he soon did.

Harry noticed a couple of people staring at Tony, a couple even looked like they wanted to approach, but something about Tony's demeanor must have kept them at bay. Harry was okay with that.

Eventually, Harry's name was called, or rather, it was Tony's name they called out, even though the appointment was supposedly for him. Harry thought that was odd and gave Tony a questioning look, but he shook his head slightly. Harry assumed he didn't want to talk about it or just didn't feel it was the time to talk about it right now.

Together Harry and Tony were led back to a small, relatively dark room. There in the middle was a really funny looking chair with a large even weirder apparatus hanging from the ceiling, and to the side was a desk, rolling chair. Harry was asked to sit in the chair and wait while Tony talked to the woman softly about who knows what. Harry knew they were talking about him, but he couldn't fathom what Tony would have about to talk about.

The woman nodded along with what Tony was saying, after a few minutes of this, the young woman turned to Harry and Tony left the room, but not before smiling a reassuring smile in Harry's direction.

The whole eye exam went rather quickly, much to Harry's relief. However, the doctor had seemed horrified that Harry had just picked the pair of glasses from a donation box that had provided the clearest vision and had never gotten his eyes checked before.

And in the end, not only they had given him some disposable sunglasses that he was supposed to somehow fashion over the top of his glasses, but also a loaner pair of glasses that were closer to the strength he needed. He still had his old pair, but was instructed to throw them away, or do whatever, but not to wear them again. Harry had been against taking the pair at first, fearing that it was going to cost Tony even more money, but the doctor and his assistant had flat out refused to hear any attempt of Harry's to deny the pair. In the end, they compromised and said that once he chose his frames and got his prescription filled, he could return the pair.

While Harry was sure, he would appreciate the clearer vision the glasses would offer him, at the moment he was more concerned about how to get the sunglasses to stay over the glasses without completely taking the glasses off.

Despite the glasses and the sunglasses, it felt like they did little to help him see as he thought for sure that he had never been quite so blind before.

Harry was actually a bit grateful for Tony's presence as the man led him with great patience back to the car after the doctor had finished talking to him about whatever it was he had found in the exam.

When they pulled from the parking space, Tony began talking, and Harry listened with half an ear, as he was too busy trying to keep his eyes shut. Who knew that even the pale winter sun could be so bright?

"So, what did you think? It wasn't that bad, was it?"

Why did it matter what he thought? It was over with now anyway.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Harry admitted, "of course, I only had Dudley's reaction to go on, and he always overreacts to everything."

"Ah, well, that's good. How about we head back home now? It'll take another couple hours for your eyes to lose its sensitivity so you will probably want to stay out of the direct sunlight, until then. And by then, it'll be too late to do much of anything."

Harry knew this. The doctor had told him that his eyes would feel sensitive after all the eyedrops they had put in his eyes.

Harry just hoped he didn't get a headache from it like he sometimes got when he attempted to read or study for too long.

"That sounds fine," Harry replied before he realized that he hadn't even looked at any frames.

"What about my glasses?" He figured it would be best to remind Tony before they got too far, not knowing how Tony would react to having to backtrack.

"We can pick them out another day. I want you to see what options they offer, and spend all the time you need when deciding, not make some half-blind attempt or get the first couple of pairs you see." Tony sounded so dismissive of it all that Harry assumed Tony didn't mind taking another trip just to get him his glasses.

If Tony didn't care, Harry couldn't bring himself to care either.

Tony was silent for a minute before speaking again. "The doctor is concerned that your eyesight has been made worse due to years of wearing the wrong prescription. The headaches you told him about are probably a result of that."  
Harry half-frowned at this. Did the doctor really have to tell Tony about the headaches? He wondered if the doctor had warned him of the potential one Harry could get until his eyes fully adjusted to the strength of the loaner glasses. "They seemed to work all right when I got them. I mean, I could see fine with them then."  
He heard a sigh come from the driver's seat. "Maybe when you got them, you could see fine, but eyesight tends to worsen over time. If you would rather not wear glasses, you could always go with contacts. They would certainly make your eyes stand out."

Harry didn't know anyone who wore contacts and wasn't sure how he felt about sticking something into his eyes every day. Plus, with glasses, he was able to protect his eyes from Neville's exploding cauldron.

"I think I'll just stick to wearing glasses."

"Sure, kiddo, whatever, you want."

"Hey, Tony?" Harry asked, just remembering something.

"Yeah?"  
"Why did they call your name and not mine?" Harry couldn't believe he had almost forgotten to ask.

Tony looked at the car ahead of him for a brief moment before answering, "I am pretty well known, if you haven't figured that out yet, Harry. Most people are fine reading about my latest invention or whatnot and going back to their lives, but some want to know what I do on a day-to-day basis. This causes the near-constant media presence. It can get extremely annoying and inconvenient at times but, if it's a show they want, it's a show I am usually all too willing to give."  
Harry was beginning to realize why Tony did, as simple as it was, Harry couldn't help but feel touched at the thought.

'However, sometimes, paparazzi can get a bit too close and personal in their digs. The paps tend to twist and skew stuff at the best of times and be downright vicious the rest of the time. Therefore I wish to keep your anonymity for as long as possible. I don't think you are ready to be thrown into that kind of spotlight just yet."

"But, can't they just look it up like you did?" Harry asked, hoping that all of Tony's work wasn't going to be in vain.

"They would have to know your name to look you up. And there really isn't a whole lot about you online. You bring up a good point, though. Maybe I ought to look into having you completely erased from the web, that way no one could look you up… Yeah, I like that idea. I'll set JARVIS to is when we get back to the tower."

The rest of the ride back to the tower was filled with similar small talk.

By the time they did get back, they had fallen into a comfortable flow of conversation.

Sensing that Tony wasn't about to let Harry sneak back up to his room, Harry initially opted to sit on the floor, but was pulled up by a confused looking Tony and pushed down to sit on one end of the long couch. He didn't lean back into the sofa. Instead, he sat at the edge, ready to leap off of it at a moment's notice.

The others looked at him curiously, but none of them said a word, probably on the account that Tony had sat next to him, with an arm draped over the back of the couch where Harry sat, giving the illusion to the room that he was slinging his arm around Harry if he would have leaned back.

By now, Harry could feel his earlier fear of a headache come true. The pounding was dull, but Harry knew it was likely to get worse with all the light that emitted into the room. He wanted to get up and go to his room, get in the closet, where there was no light, and hide until his headache eased off.

Sinking further into the couch, Harry pretended that he was in the common room and not at Stark Tower. It was easier for him just to pretend that he wasn't sitting on Tony's furniture as he still wanted to follow the rules the Dursley's had set for him.

It was kind of weird, Harry thought, how he could be so comfortable at Hogwarts, but so up-in-arms here. It was all because of his uncle's rule that stated freaks weren't allowed on any furniture.

At Hogwarts, he was mainly surrounded by his housemates, and none of them had the real authority to chastise him for sitting on the furniture (although Percy liked to think he held some clout being a Perfect). Of course, there didn't seem to be any common room rule that stated freaks weren't allowed on the furniture. That would have been plain ridiculous as then, at least according to the Dursley's- none of them would have been permitted to sit in any of the numerous chairs or couches that were scattered throughout the room.

And here at Stark Tower, Tony had all but invited Harry to sit on his couch, making Dursley's rule null and void, or at least until Tony got fed up with him and told him to shove it.

Unknowingly to Harry, as his headache began to worsen gradually, he slowly relaxed his tense shoulders. He sank further and further into the couch until it really did give off the appearance that Tony had one arm around him.

At some point, Harry must have dozed off because he felt someone giving him a gentle shake.

"Hey, kid, come on now, wake up." Harry lurched up off of the couch at the gentle prob.

Harry couldn't believe he'd fallen asleep. He had let his guard down and had fallen asleep. He didn't feel safe enough here to be doing something like that, yet he had done it.

Fortunately, he noticed as his eyes flitted around the room, it seemed that his vision was no longer as blurry, nor his eyes and eyelids as sticky meaning whatever they had put in his eyes must have gone away. Unfortunately, though, his headache appeared to be even worse than before. Almost to the point that it still hurt to be in the direct light, although by now, it was lamplight and not sunlight.

Gathering his bearings and blinking the last bit of sleep out of his eyes, Harry stood and looked expectantly at Tony, who was staring at him with an unreadable expression.

Harry glanced around the room again and noticed that everyone seemed to more or less ignore him.

Good, that was good. No need to make it more awkward than it had to be. It was already awkward enough as it was since Harry did really know anyone here.

Harry saw some food lying around haphazardly on various flat surfaces. Most had looked to be untouched at the moment, but his attention was brought back to Tony as the man wordlessly motioned for Harry to sit, and handed him a take-out box.

"Here, I wasn't sure what you wanted, so I got you what I usually get. It's shawarma. It's my favorite, and I think you'll like it."

Harry took the food hesitantly, not knowing what shawarma was. He wasn't really interested in learning about it either, but the look on Tony's face made it impossible to refuse.

In short, Tony looked absolutely thrilled to be sharing this moment with Harry, even if it was just introducing "his son" to one of his favorite foods.

Harry wondered about Tony's mannerisms. Someone with all his fame and fortune could, should have everything.

They shouldn't be finding such delight in doing such mundane things, like encouraging him to try what looked like an ordinary chicken wrap (but apparently wasn't).

He certainly didn't know much about Tony, and Tony didn't know a whole lot about him, but the way Tony appeared to want to hang out with him all afternoon. And the fact that he seemed so eager to hear what Harry's thoughts were on the shawarma struck Harry as a bit odd.

Harry couldn't help but wonder if perhaps Tony, even with everything he had, was lonely. And that was why he was so eager to get to know Harry.

If this was the case, then Harry felt bad for Tony. He shouldn't be looking at Harry for approval, which Harry noticed that he hadn't yet to take a bite of the wrap.

Feeling guilty at keeping the man waiting, Harry took a bite of the food and found that he sort of liked it. It was a bit different than what he was used to. It had a lot more spices than anything he usually ate, but it wasn't necessarily _bad_.

"It's good," Harry said, confirming that he liked it, which caused Tony to positively beam at him.

Harry returned the smile with one of his own. That had been easy enough to say that it was good, and it wasn't even a lie. The shawarma _was_ good, maybe not his favorite thing ever, but he could (and probably would) eat it again.

If Tony wasn't a lonely man, then he really just wanted to make a good impression on Harry, and for that, Harry couldn't figure out which was sadder.

The fact that there was a billionaire, who could probably impress anyone, just with money alone, making such an effort to impress the one person he felt that he needed to... his _son_. Or the fact that the man was probably looking for someone who he didn't have to put up a front with, someone who would accept that underneath all his wealth and knowledge, he was a bit insecure and wanted to find someone who would look up to him and idol him in a way that the media and fans couldn't.

In all honesty, Harry wasn't sure he wanted to be that person or that he was the right person for the job, but on the flip side, Tony thought he was, so that must mean something, right?

"So, you really like it?" Tony said after Harry didn't say anymore.

"Yeah, yeah, it's good," Harry said before swallowing. "I like it."

Tony seemed to be happy at that. "Good. I hope you don't mind the chicken. I thought since you ate chicken over lunch, you wouldn't have a problem with eating more, but if you want to try something different, let me know. They have a lot of different choices."

Harry confirmed that he would, indeed, let Tony know if he wanted to try a different kind, although, to himself, Harry knew even if he wanted something other than chicken, he wouldn't ask.  
Tony and Harry spent the rest of the meal in silence, although the rest of the evening was spent making small talk. However, it was mainly between Harry and Tony as the others ventured off to do whatever it was they did, and Harry realized he kind of enjoyed spending time with Tony.


	6. Chapter Five

**s Disclaimers:** I am not making any money off of this story, so any mistakes are my own. Therefore, I cannot be the owner of the Marvel or Harry Potter universes, _that_ honor goes to their respective creators.

 **A/N:** All spelling and grammatical errors are mine.

This chapter isn't long; it just has a lot of dialogue.

I'm not a social worker so I don't know what kind of questions they would usually ask in a situation like this.

I am in no way well versed in how Brit's like their tea. I am, however, both a coffee and a tea-loving American, so excuse me if anything I say about how Britain's take their tea is wrong.

ⅤΛⅤΛⅤ

 **[Chapter Five]** The Talk

Clutching his stomach, Harry, regretted anything complimentary he might have said about shawarma.

Groaning as he staggered from his bed to the bathroom, Harry all but fell down by the toilet. His head was pulsing now, and his stomach was rolling.

He knew he shouldn't have eaten so much shawarma, but the look on Tony's face. He hadn't wanted to upset Tony by turning down the food after just a few bites.

Harry half laid over the toilet, dry heaving, and gagging wishing that he had access to some stomach soother and maybe a Pepper Up while he was at it.

Although he hadn't actually thrown up yet, Harry heard the not-so-disembodied voice of Tony's automated butler.

"Young sir, are you well? Should I get your father?"

Harry blanched at the thought of Tony coming up here. "Yeah," more gagging, "I mean, no! I mean, _yeah_ , I'm fine, and _no,_ you do not need to get Tony." Harry said as he finally managed to get out between heaves and pants.

He wasn't sick, he just wasn't used to eating such heavily seasoned foods, and the glasses had given him a migraine or something. It was probably what had made him nauseous.

Still, JARVIS must have interpreted the first 'yeah' as he needed help as a few minutes later, Harry heard his bedroom door open and seconds later, the sound of someone entering his bathroom.

Still on the floor, Tony was by Harry's side in an instant.

"Shit! Harry! What's wrong, kid?" Tony's voice was a bit too loud.  
It sent Harry reeling. "Nothing. I'm fine. I told JARVIS I was fine." Harry said as he leaned back again while letting his hand drop from his stomach and into his lap as if to convey his point further.

"I am sorry young sir; I mistook your affirmative as to get your father."  
"It's fine, JARVIS," Tony dismissed before Harry had a chance to say anything.

Harry groaned, it wasn't fine. He didn't want Tony here. He just wanted to be alone, why couldn't anyone understand that?

"Harry? Is it just a headache? I mean, you aren't getting sick on me, right? Oh, God, I am not cut out for this!" Tony fretted as Harry felt his eyes rake over him, trying to find the cause of Harry's sudden distress.

"I'm _fine_ ," Harry said while pushing away from the toilet and subsequently, Tony. How many times did he have to say that for him to understand!

"All right, kid, I got your point," said Tony in a placating manner, even going as far as holding his palms out. "At least let me get you something for your head," Tony said as he stood up.

"See, Tony, you've got this." Harry heard Tony mutter to himself as he went to leave the bathroom.

Harry thought he heard Tony asking JARVIS to alert him immediately if something like this ever occurred again, to which Harry just let out an irritated sigh.

He didn't need looking after; he was twelve, not exactly a grown-up but not at the age where he needed consent supervision either. Merlin knows he wasn't used to it.

Minutes later, Tony returned with a glass of water and a pill bottle. Handing both off to Harry, he wordlessly watched as Harry grabbed a couple of pills, popped them in his mouth, and washed them down with water.

Tony lingered around a few more minutes, eyeing Harry critically for anything else that might be wrong. When it appeared that there was nothing else he could do and that Harry didn't need anything, Tony escorted Harry back to his bed. When Harry was back in bed, Tony left with the promise that he would be around later to check on him but to tell JARVIS if he needed anything in the meantime. Tony had also suggested that he should probably try to get some sleep. Saying that is what always seemed to help him.

If Tony kept his word, Harry didn't know, as he managed to fall asleep at some point and slept through the night until the next morning. As it was, he was only woken up by an insistent knock on his bedroom door.

"M'a wake Aunt Petunia," Harry mumbled as he sat up.

"Harry?" It was Pepper, not his aunt. He relaxed a fraction. "Are you awake?" She sounded frazzled.  
"I am now," Harry said groggily as he rubbed the rest of the sleep from his eyes. What time was it? As Harry slipped his recently acquired frames on, he noticed it was barely light outside.

The door slowly opened as Pepper popped her head in.

"Harry, you need to come downstairs right now."

Harry was instantly wide awake. Pepper looked very serious at the moment, which caused him to suspect something was wrong immediately. Probably something he was or wasn't currently doing.

"I'll start cooking breakfast. I am sorry I overslept."  
"What?" Pepper sounded very confused before realization dawned on her. "No, no, Harry! It's nothing like that. We'll worry about breakfast later."

"What's wrong, then?" He voiced his concern as he threw the covers away from him. If it wasn't because he had overslept and not had breakfast waiting, then what was the issue?

"Someone called Child Protective Services. They have sent a social worker over and, she wants to talk to you." Pepper said, looking angry for a minute.

"What?" Harry was confused. Didn't they usually send over social workers for kids who were in foster care or something? He wasn't in foster care, and Tony wasn't his foster dad considering he was the real thing.  
"I know, Harry. I'm just as shocked as you are. But someone must have reported it yesterday and right now the woman is down there talking to Tony. She's demanding to speak to you too."

"Reported what?" Harry questioned. Tony hadn't done anything to him, other than being kinder than Harry really deserved. Harry hadn't been acting very grateful to Tony, hiding in his room instead of trying to get to know him.

Pepper took a deep breath, "Child abuse, Harry." She acted like it was painful to say. "It's not something people take lightly, and I can only assume someone reported the Dursley's actions."  
"Oh. Um, could you give me a few minutes, please?" Harry asked as he scrambled out of bed.

"Of course, just come down when you are ready. The social worker is not going to leave until she talks to you, so take your time."  
"Mrs. Potts, erm, Pepper?" Harry stumbled, still having trouble remembering not to address her by title, catching her as she was getting ready to leave. "Do you know why she wants to see me?"  
Pepper softened at his question, "She just wants to know how you are settling in. She will probably want to know what you think of Tony. Make sure it's not Tony behind all this. Just tell her what you think. Be honest, Harry. If you don't like it here, tell her. She can make other arrangements." Pepper said although she had a peculiar look on her face.

She seemed to be conflicted about something before she seemed to make up her mind. "Harry, I do want to remind you that regardless of what happens today, know that you will always have a home here. I know you haven't known Tony but for a couple of days, but in that time, I have seen a real change in Tony. A change for the better, and I have you to thank for it. I know I should not try to sway your decision, but please consider everything when you answer her questions today. Tell her the truth, but think of all Tony's done for you in the couple of days you have been here and the life you had with your aunt and uncle."

Harry saw gratitude, worry, hope, anxiety, and many other emotions to name on her face at that moment.

"I will," Harry promised.

"Thank you, Harry." Pepper sounded relieved. "Now, get ready, and I'll let them know you will be joining us shortly." With that, Pepper closed the door to the room, leaving Harry to hastily get dressed.

Not even ten minutes later, Harry stepped off the elevator and into the common room where he saw Tony sitting on the couch as he had been on that first morning when they had met. Except now, Pepper stood beside him. Neither of them seemed to be very relaxed, and Harry quickly saw why. The woman who must have been the social worker, Pepper was talking about, was wandering around the area, looking into things and taking notes.

"Harry." Tony greeted with a smile; it didn't seem to reach his eyes, Harry noticed at once. "I hope you are feeling better this morning?" He sounded tired, and maybe a bit stressed, Harry realized. He felt a little guilty, hoping that he hadn't stayed up all night because of him. The pills worked well enough and had at least dulled the pain enough where he'd been able to fall asleep.

"Yes," Harry said as he walked over to stand around Tony and Pepper. "Uh, thanks, by the way, for last night."

Hearing the greeting, the woman turned around and, upon spying Harry, bustled over before Tony had a chance to respond.

The woman was middle-aged and short, only a few centimeters taller than he was, with short blonde hair. She had a stern look on her face, but it seemed to dissolve into something a bit kinder as she approached him. "Harry Potter?"

"Yes?" Harry answered while glancing at Tony and Pepper. Harry noticed Tony's eyes appeared not to have left him during the entire conversation.

Harry looked at the woman in front of him.

"Margret Atwood, I'm a social worker sent by the CPS to look into your new living arrangement. I would like to have a word with you and ask you a few questions if I may?"  
"Sure, that'll be fine, I guess. Tony?" Harry looked expectantly at the man who claimed to be his father. Harry wasn't sure what he was trying to ask Tony. It wasn't like he was asking for permission. It was almost like he was trying to seek approval or something, which was odd.

Harry was mildly surprised when Tony remained seated and did not offer him a place beside him. "Go with Mrs. Atwood, Harry. Pepper and I will be here, and we can get breakfast when you return."

The woman did not interrupt the exchange, but Harry could tell she was watching the interaction very closely.  
Catching his gaze, Mrs. Atwood smiled again; this time, it was more reassuring. "Why don't you show me your room, Harry? We can talk there."  
"Er, okay," Harry said before leading her to the elevator and leaving Tony and Pepper to themselves to talk over this morning's events. The trip to Tony's floor was short and spent mostly making small talk. She inquired about what he wanted for Christmas, but the conversation kind of died when he responded that he didn't know. He'd never had anything before starting Hogwarts, and he never made it a point of asking for anything, as it would have just given the Dursley's the unneeded pleasure of denying him of it.

Harry wondered why she didn't go ahead and ask him what he thought of Tony but guessed that she wanted the privacy of his room before she started pestering him for answers. The small talk must have been for places that people could easily overhear.

Harry idly wondered if she knew about JARVIS.

Harry led her down the hall to his room. Opening the door and switching on the light, he was relieved he had taken the time to make up his bed. At least she wouldn't think of him as a total slob.

Mrs. Atwood did a once over of the room, inspecting it for who knows what. Harry ignored her and walked over to the sitting area.

Following him, she sat down on one of the chairs, leaving Harry to take the one opposite of her.

"So, uh, what questions do you have for me?" while his voice remained calm, his hands belied his anxiety.

"I'd first like to start off with a simple question. Could you give me your full name and your date of birth?"

Harry gave them his information wondering why the woman wanted to know his full name. She already knew his first and last. Maybe she needed a record for it or something.

She also asked for his mother's name and asked for some details about her. It was when speaking to her about his mum and dad, or rather, stepdad, that Harry realized that Tony had mentioned either one of them again after Harry's outburst. He wondered if Tony was afraid to ask more about them, or was just content on putting the conversation on the back burner until they got to know each other better.

The conversation of his mum led to the topic of his former guardians, which Harry was less eager to talk about.

"And you used to live with your aunt and uncle, Petunia and Vernon Dursley, right?"

"Yes."

"You are from England, originally, correct?"  
"Yes, ma'am."  
"And how did you get to New York?"  
"By plane?" Harry asked, not really sure what she was asking. He figured he must have misinterpreted the question because it was kind of silly to be asking how did you get here. How else did she think he got to New York? By boat? Harry hadn't had muggle history in over a year, but he was pretty sure no one had actually sailed to America from England since before the invention of the airplane.  
"You misunderstood me. When did you get to New York? Why New York? Did your relatives, plan this trip with the sole intention of dropping you off with Tony Stark, or did it just turn out this way?"  
"I usually go to a boarding school. They sent a letter to me and told me that they were going to Hawaii for the holidays but before they were going to drop me off at Tony's. Once they picked me up from the train station, we flew into New York, and now I'm here. I think they found out about Tony from one of my mum's letters or something and decided to send me to live with him when I am not in school."  
"I see," the social worker made notes of his response. Harry doubted she saw _anything_ but didn't comment. In the end, it wasn't worth it.

"Do you enjoy school?"  
"Yes." And it was the truth. Sure he didn't care about being called the Slytherin Heir and everyone suspecting him of being the one petrifying his classmates or the looming threat of Voldemort. Still, he genuinely enjoyed learning more about his magic.

"And what kinds of stuff do they teach you there?" Harry told her what he had been taught in the muggle schools, hoping that it was correct, and when she asked for the name of his school and whether he had many friends there, he answered her. Of course, he couldn't tell her about magic, so he made up a name for the school, but he told her about his friends and had to make up some of the things they liked to do when they weren't in class as not to arouse suspicion, but she seemed to buy it, so Harry didn't feel bad.

"I am glad to hear you enjoy school and have friends. Do you plan on returning after the holidays? It is not very convenient, is it? With Tony living here in New York and your school being all the way in the UK."  
"Um, yeah. Tony and I have talked about it. I want to go back, so I'll probably be going back. At least he said I could go back, although I don't know anything more than that."

"That's good. But have you considered perhaps attending a school here in New York? I am sure there are many good public and private schools that would love to have you enrolled in their program?"

Harry shook his head. He wouldn't be attending any school other than Hogwarts, and it was where his parents had gone to school, and, despite everything, it's where he wanted to go. Besides, any school in New York would probably only accept him because Tony would probably try to buy his way in. Kind of like how Lord Malfoy bought his son's way into the Slytherin Quidditch team.

"I am happy where I am at," Harry said firmly.

The woman looked at him funny for a second before studying her notes carefully.

"Now tell me, Harry." She said as she looked at him. "What do you think of Tony Stark?"  
"That he's nice?"  
"Can you give me an example of when he was being nice?" Harry was a little annoyed that she was acting like she was talking to a little kid. He supposed she was nice enough, but he was twelve, not two.

"He bought me clothes and a coat when he saw I didn't really have one."  
"Your aunt and uncle didn't buy you a coat?"  
"No, well, you see, I had a coat, it was a cast-off of my cousin's. It was sort of old and worn, and I outgrew it last year. I didn't bother packing it."

She frowned at this.  
"How old is your cousin?" She asked as she continued to write down his responses.  
"He's my age, so twelve. He's about a month older than me, though. He's also a lot bigger than me if you know what I mean."  
"Did you usually wear hand-me-downs from your cousin?"  
"Yeah. My aunt and uncle always said they didn't have extra money to spend on me." Harry blushed a little. He knew it wasn't his fault he had walked around looking like he lived on the streets, it was just kind of embarrassing to admit it.

"But they had plenty of money to spend on their own son?"  
Harry nodded.

"Is there any other time you thought Tony was being nice to you?"  
"Yesterday. He took me to get new glasses. I haven't picked them out yet, but Tony's promised me that we would go back and pick out a couple of pairs."  
"That's nice. Do you think he will keep his word?"  
"I suppose so. He's been really nice so far."

"Tony said your aunt and uncle hadn't taken you to get your eyes checked in some time?"  
"No. They were busy." Harry said, not justifying their actions, but because they _were_ busy… busy making excuses as to why they didn't need to take him to get his eyes checked.

"Tony mentioned a few minutes ago that you were not feeling well last night? Are you feeling better now?"  
Harry affirmed that he was feeling fine, wondering why she couldn't seem to remember his earlier answer since she remembered Tony asking him the question.  
"Do you know what caused it?"  
"I just had a headache. That was all. It wasn't a big deal. I get headaches quite frequently, though, so I'm pretty used to it. But Tony- well, he..."  
"What did Tony do?"

You mean besides, overreact? Harry thought, only he remembered what Pepper had told him just a while ago. Think of everything Tony's done for him in the past few days and compare it to everything the Dursley's have ever done for him. The least he could do was tell the truth, and tell the woman that he had been there. And that in some ways it was kind of nice.

"He was... _nice_ about it. He stayed with me for a few minutes before going to get me something to take for my headache." Harry said before he fell silent for a few seconds. His mind was going back over last night's events.  
"He said he'd come back and check on me later." Harry almost whispered, recalling the almost caring tone Tony had spoken to him last night. Almost as if he really was a father checking in on his son. He would have thought it was all a dream, had he not remembered the flutter it had sent through him. For perhaps the first time in his life since his parents had died, Harry had felt like someone truly cared about him. It felt strange, but not entirely unwelcome.

"And did he?"  
"I don't know. I fell asleep, but Tony probably did." And Harry felt that it was true.  
"And how did that make you feel? Having Tony there when you weren't feeling well?"  
"I don't know. It was sort of nice, I guess. But I'm not used to it."  
"Your aunt never sat with you when you were sick?"  
"No."  
"Hm," She intoned thoughtfully. "What did she usually do when you got sick?"  
"She'd send me to my room and made me stay there until I felt better."

"They never took you to the doctor's?"

"Not for a cold."  
"Okay." The woman said, writing something else down and flipped some pages down to look at some other notes she had taken.

"So, after he bought you a new winter wardrobe, what did you do?"  
The sudden change of topic caught Harry momentarily off guard. "We came back here and talked and got to know each other better."  
"What did you think of that?"  
"Think of what?" Harry questioned. What was she even asking?  
"What did you think of him after you two spent some time getting to know each other better? What did you two talk about? Things of that nature."  
"Does it matter?" Harry said. He liked Tony. Harry thought that Tony was trying too hard to win Harry's love, or whatever he was doing, but he didn't hate Tony or anything like that. It was just strange because he wasn't used to an adult being so interested in him. There were professors at Hogwarts, like Professor McGonagall, that seemed to care about her students, but that was different. It was her job to care, and she only cared so much. It wasn't Tony's job to care about him, yet he still did. It was a strange concept for Harry.

"Yes, I believe it does matter. You have a voice here, Harry. It is my job to make sure your wishes are understood and heard. Anything you tell me is completely confidential, other than in a court and law kind of setting. Meaning if you do not want me to tell Tony, then I won't. In fact, most of what we are talking about now, won't even be mentioned to Tony."  
"What parts will?" Harry said, and it was _not_ because he was baiting time. He was also curious about what she would be telling Tony.

"If it is decided that it is in your best interest to stay here for the time being, then I will merely just be giving some suggestions on my part, based on what you tell me. Just ways that will help both you and your father settle in in the long run."  
"Oh. Do you think I will? Stay here, I mean, with Tony?"  
"At the moment, I haven't made up my mind. Do you want to stay with Tony?"

"I don't know. He has been nothing but nice to me, though." Harry reiterated for the umpteenth time. Even if the woman decided against letting Harry stay here, he didn't want her to think that Tony had been mean to him.

"So, what do you think of your room?" She said as she crossed her leg, glancing around the child's large and spacious room. It hadn't been decorated or personalized yet, but she hadn't really expected it to be. It was a lot larger than most of the children's room she saw, but given the size of his father's living space, she suspected it was on par with the other bedrooms.

"It's nice. A bit too large, but it's nice."

"Was your other room not as large?" She asked as if she was honestly curious, Harry just snorted.

He doubted the boy's dormitory at Hogwarts was as large as his current room. Of course, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but this room was a lot larger than his room back at the Dursley's.

"No. It was the smallest of the bedrooms the Dursley's. It used to be Dudley's toy room until the Dursley's decided to give me the room."  
"Did you and Dudley share a room then?"  
"Er, no. I actually slept in a different part of the house, but that's not important."  
"It is important. If your relatives treated you unfairly or differently than your cousin, then it is very much so important. Why did you not sleep in your cousin's room? Did you not have a bedroom? Where in the house did you sleep if not in a bedroom? How many bedrooms did your relative's house have? And how old were you when you got your cousin's playroom?"

Harry stuttered for a moment. Should he tell her? If he told her, then maybe he wouldn't have to go back to the Dursley's. That thought alone was the deciding factor. The Dursley's didn't deserve him, nor would he be going back to them so willingly. Not after they sold him to the highest bidder, so to speak.

"I usually slept in the room under the stairs." Harry winced. He hadn't talked about it a whole lot on account of how bad it sounded. Because it sounded every bit as bad as it was, and Harry had no way of justifying what his relatives did. And it was extremely embarrassing, for Harry to admit that it had only been when he was in primary school that he learned that sleeping in a cupboard was not only wrong but cruel as well. At the woman's horrified look, Harry continued anxiously. "I mean, I was smaller back then. It wasn't too crowded. I know it wasn't right, but I didn't mind the smaller space. I felt safe there."  
"You slept under the stairs? In the cupboard." The woman clarified while writing something furiously on her pad.

"How big would you say this cupboard was?"  
"Not large. I couldn't do much more than sit up in it and lay down, but it was my room."

"Could you describe it for me?" And Harry did to the best of his abilities. It wasn't the best description, but Harry was sure she got the general picture of it. The social worker wrote down every word.

"How old were you when you got your room?"

"The cupboard?"

"No, but you can tell me anyway. How old were you when your aunt and uncle moved you up to your cousin's playroom?"  
"Eleven. I know that sounds horrible," Harry apologized again, "but I have always been kind of small for my age. Before that, the cupboard had always been my room."

More writing.

"And how many bedrooms did your relative's house have?"  
"Four. The room where my aunt and uncle slept, Dudley's room, his playroom where they kept all his broken toys, and Aunt Marge's room for when she came over for a visit." Harry recited off quickly. He'd been in charge of cleaning them all at some point or another throughout the years. Sometimes all four bedrooms on the same day.

"So they had plenty of space for you, but they instead chose to give you the cupboard. Did you ever wonder why you were being treated differently than your cousin?"  
"No." And it was the truth. The Dursley's always justified their actions to him. It was always because he was a freak or being lazy, or because he deliberately acted out or caused mischief or being a general nuisance, the list of accusations went on.

The woman looked at him in disbelief, but Harry didn't elaborate, nor did she ask him to.

Instead, she asked him more about the cupboard. "You said you felt safe in the cupboard. Can you explain why you felt this way?"  
Harry just shrugged, not commenting again.  
"Harry?"  
"It was my room. Aren't you supposed to feel safe in your room?"  
The woman was silent for a minute before she asked in a soft voice. "Do you feel safe here in this room?"

Did Harry feel safe here? Knowing that at any moment, Tony could enter his room, or have JARVIS listen in on him and report back to him at any time.

The room was bigger than he liked, but it was only temporary. Just until he went back to Hogwarts, and then there was no guarantee he would be returning.

"It's nice." Was that going to be his standard answer? It's nice? Like what kind of response was that? Did he like it, or did he not? What did he even mean by 'it's nice' anyway?

She must have been thinking along the same lines as she commented on his response. "That did not answer my question, though. Do you feel safe here?"  
"Yeah, yeah, I do. Everyone knocks before they enter my room, well except last night. I think Tony just came in…"

"When you had a headache?"  
Harry nodded in affirmation.

"Did you, at some point, tell him that it was okay for him to just come in?"  
"No." Harry knew he hadn't told Tony as much.  
"Does that bother you? That he just came in without asking for your permission first?"  
"No… I mean, not really. This is his place. He should be able to do whatever he wants. Besides, he invited me to stay here with him," no need to tell her that he hadn't really had a choice. "And he was worried."  
"It shouldn't matter that he is letting you live here. Yes, I would agree that this is his place, the name on the side of the tower says as much. And that he was likely worried about you," She said with a slight laugh, "but, would you go barging into his room, unannounced?"  
"No! That's his room. I would knock or something if I needed him and wait for him to answer." More accurately, Harry would just ask JARVIS to get his father, as he didn't know how Tony would react to him, interrupting him if the bedroom door was closed. His uncle never liked it, regardless of what "excuse" Harry had.

"Exactly, Harry. You would do the courteous thing by waiting to be invited in. That is the same thing that Tony needs to be respectful of. Your room is _your_ room. He might own the tower, but he has given you this room, and as such, he has said that this is your space. If he comes in uninvited, then he is encroaching on your space. Do you understand?" The woman explained although she smiled slightly when Harry told her that he thought he might.

She continued quite seriously, "That does not mean to say that you can lock your father out. It's all about setting respectful boundaries."

Isn't that what Tony had been saying when he had said something about a two-way street?

"But you would feel more comfortable if he knocked, or let you know that he wanted to come in," Mrs. Atwood laminated.

Harry nodded. After years of his uncle just barging into his room unannounced, it was nice for someone to ask to be invited in before entering.

"Then, I will talk to Tony about that, and let him know that that is something you find important."  
Harry looked surprised that she would do something like that on his behalf. She caught the look, "that's what I'm here for, Harry."

Harry looked out the window and over the city and to the sunrise. It had painted the sky a pretty pink and coral color. His attention was eventually drawn back to the woman.

"Other than last night, has everyone been respectful of you and your wishes? How about the others that live here? Have they been making you feel welcomed?"  
"Yes. Everyone's been nice. I don't think they really know what to think of me, but they seem all right with me being here."  
The woman nodded while looking at her papers.

"Can you describe an instance where they made you feel that way? Why do you doubt them?"  
"We haven't really talked that much. I don't think they are used to having a kid around."  
"Do you think that in time this will change and that they will want to interact with you more?"  
"It's possible," Harry said, but he didn't know when that would be. He'd be going back to Hogwarts before long, and most of the other Avengers were out during the day doing Avenger-y things.

The woman must have heard the skepticism in his response. "I know this is a huge adjustment for you and your father, and you need to focus on trying to establish a relationship with him, but you also need to try to form a relationship with the others too since they live here. If you feel uncomfortable around them, you need to tell me, Harry. This is also important. I need to leave here today, feeling confident that I am leaving you in a home that you feel comfortable in- with people who have your best interest at heart."  
"I do feel comfortable here," Harry said. He did feel comfortable around Tony, although there were a lot of awkward moments.

The woman looked at him as if trying to gauge the truthfulness of his comment. Harry looked away after a few moments.

"I have here that you've seen Mr. Stark's personal doctor, Connor Fayge."  
Harry nodded, waiting for her to continue. "He was the one that did the paternity test when your relatives brought you in, am I right?"  
"Yes."  
"And did he notice anything amiss?" At Harry's uncertain look, she elaborated. "Did he notice any outwardly violent or unusual behaviors between your relatives and you?"  
"I guess. I don't know. He didn't seem to like my aunt and uncle a whole lot. But they were being rude." Harry said, beating her to her next question. The woman wrote that note down too. She must have been writing everything down for further examination.

"Did the Dursley's take you to regular doctor appointments? You mentioned before that they did not always take you when you were sick."

"Only when they had to."  
"So, they took you for school immunizations?" Harry nodded. They only took him because they had to, and they always took him to a clinic that served the underprivileged. Harry wasn't exactly sure why they didn't just take him to see Dudley's doctor, but even so, those visits were always few and far between.  
"What about injuries or major illnesses?"  
"I broke my arm once when I was younger. They took me to get it plastered. And I usually just stayed home from school when I was sick. I never went to the clinic for it. Aunt Petunia always said 'what comes on its own, leaves on its own.'"

The woman frowned at that and circled something on her pad.  
"How did you break your arm?"  
"I fell down the stairs," Harry mumbled. More like he'd been pushed by Dudley, but he wasn't going to be the one to explain why his cousin had pushed him down the stairs.

The woman didn't seem to buy his excuse.

"You fell down the stairs?" The social worker's eyebrows shot up while giving him a look that said that she clearly didn't believe him. Harry realized that this must be a common excuse.

But in his defense, he was telling the truth. "Yeah. I missed a step, and I fell. My aunt took me when she realized I must have injured myself." Actually, she only took him after it was clear that Harry couldn't perform his chores and to keep their neighbors from talking. It wasn't because she had suffered from a change of heart or anything that drastic. She just wanted to know what was keeping him from doing his chores.

"How about at your boarding school? Is there a nurse or doctor available to the students?"

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey. She's very stern and won't let you leave until she feels that you are well."

The woman nodded in understanding. "I take it you've seen her then?"

"Only when I'm sick, or when I've hurt myself," Harry said, thinking about the slightly overbearing mediwitch. "But, yes, she'll keep you there _forever,_ and she won't let you do anything," Harry said with an exasperated scowl.

Mrs. Atwood chuckled. Kids could be overdramatic at times, and she felt that this was one of those times.

"Do you mind going into detail about some of the times that lead you to go seek her out?"  
"At the end of the term last year, right before finals, Ron and Hermione and I were exploring around the school instead of studying, and I stumbled and knocked my head. I saw her then when she said I had a concussion. She made me stay for a couple of days and refused to let me study or do anything. It was very boring."

What he had been doing was trying to find Nicholas Flamel's Stone, but he couldn't exactly say that now could he?

The woman pursed her lips.

"And Tony, you said he's never been rude or shouted at you for anything?" The woman looked intently at Harry, probably to try to catch him in a lie.

"No. He has never raised his voice or gotten mad at me. He has already done more for me than the Dursley's have."

The woman smiled before glancing through her notes and papers again.

"You did very well, Harry. And I appreciate your cooperation and honesty. How about you show me around your room now? Show many anything and everything you want. I will be taking notes, but ignore that. I just want to make sure that Tony has provided you with all the things you need."  
"Er, okay? What do you want to see first?"

She told him just to start wherever, and after that, Harry slowly went through the room, showing the social worker everything she asked to see.

When Harry had finished, Mrs. Atwood suggested they go back and meet up with Tony so that they could talk as a group.

While they were in the elevator, she asked Harry again if he thought he might want to continue staying here.  
"I like it here. Tony's been really nice."

"All right," came the simple reply.  
The two of them rejoined Tony in the living area almost an hour after they had gone up to Harry's room.

Harry noticed as he made his way over to him, and not for the first that morning that Tony seemed anxious.

Harry smiled half-heartedly, hoping to at least convey some reassurance that Tony had done something right. At least, by his standards anyway.

He didn't know which way the woman would go, whether she would let him stay or force him to go to someone else (although hopefully not back to the Dursley's), but Harry had felt like he'd done all he could to speak favorably on Tony's behalf.

From there, the woman sat down and talked to both of them on somethings they should do to make the adjustment easier, just like she had said and some other suggestions.

She also seemed interested as to why Dr. Connor hadn't reported his suspicions. Tony seemed prepared to defend his employee's actions, and while he didn't precisely dodge the questions, Harry noticed that Tony didn't answer her questions outright. He did not seem overly concerned about why Dr. Connor hadn't reported the Dursley's and just answered the questions in a way that more or less pacify her.

She also questioned as to why he hadn't given the child a full look over. Tony responded that he would after Christmas unless something urgent came up because he was on vacation at the moment and how Connor hadn't seen any tell-tale signs of physical abuse at the time.

This did not seem to appease the social worker at all who demanded that he take Harry immediately to get evaluated. Harry watched as Tony argued right back, and in the end, the social worker begrudgingly compromised and settled with having Connor see to Harry immediately after he returned from vacation and the holidays.

Keeping true to her word, she mentioned some things to Tony that Harry had brought up, which Tony seemed to be overly eager to adhere to.

Tony had also tried to weasel out of her who had blabbed, but the woman steadfastly refused to say. Which Harry supposed was probably a good thing. Stating that she had to keep all parts anonymous in case someone attempted to retaliate or something along those lines. Harry realized that in this case, it was Tony she was talking about. Harry wasn't positive that Tony _would_ do anything to exert revenge on the Dursley's, but he couldn't discount the thought of Tony just standing back and doing nothing either.

After a bit more discussion, it was time for the metaphorical ax to fall. Harry didn't understand why it would fall on one person to decide whether or not he should be allowed to stay with Tony or not, but it was, and so it was with bated breath that Harry waited for the woman's opinion on the matter.

Harry kind of figured that she had decided to let him stay here with Tony since she had been giving them some pointers but, it felt good to hear it all the same.

"I think that if you follow my suggestions, then I do not see why you cannot stay here."  
The smile on Tony's face made the earlier scrutiny worth it. The look on Tony's face could only be compared to Christmas coming early. The man looked stoked at the thought that Harry was going to be staying.

It caused Harry to smile a bit too. He, in his own way, was very relieved that Mrs. Atwood had determined that he was fine to stay with Tony. She didn't say when she had decided to keep Harry here, but she warned that this wouldn't be the last time they would be seeing the CPS and that Dr. Fayge was to immediately forward his findings directly to her. Which Tony promised he would.

After that, she quickly made her leave, but Tony and Harry barely noticed on the account that Tony was gripping Harry's shoulders lightly, although he felt a twinge of pain from his still-tender shoulder and beamed at Harry.

He pulled Harry into the first real hug and whispered into his ear. "I think you've just made me the happiest man on this planet, Harry. You could have told her anything, but you didn't. _Thank you._ "

A throat cleared from somewhere within the room, interrupting the hug, causing the moment to be lost forever.

Harry did notice that Tony's eyes sparkled with unspoken emotion as they pulled away, but with a blink, it was gone.

"What do you want, Steve?" Tony bit out irritatedly. Mostly likely at having their little father and son moment interrupted.

"Breakfast is ready if you two would care to join," Steve said as he casually leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. He didn't comment on their little display, but he seemed to be drinking in the sight before him with hard eyes.

"We will be there in a moment. Go ahead and start without us." Tony dismissed Captain Rogers calmly while he continued to look at Harry with a proud smirk on his face.

"Don't complain to me if your coffee and food are cold," Steve grumbled but took his leave.

Tony didn't even bother snarking back a reply.

"What do you say, Harry, breakfast?"

Harry nodded in agreement, blushing furiously at having been caught in the private moment.

"Don't worry about Steve and the others," Tony said, waving off the other Avengers as if their opinions were inconsequential. To Tony, they probably were.

In a staged whisper, Tony leaned in closer to Harry and said, "It was Spangle's turn to cook this morning. Can't guarantee that anything he has made is edible, so if you don't like it, don't be afraid to speak up."

"I could have cooked something," Harry said, feeling useless at not having really done any chores or cooking since he'd been here. He was getting lazy, and that wouldn't do to continue. It could become a habit, and he certainly didn't need that. "I'm sorry that I overslept. I'll cook breakfast tomorrow."  
"No, Harry. You're twelve-years-old and a kid. More importantly, you're _my_ kid. No one here expects you to cook, least of all, me. We are the adults here. If we don't like what's been cooked, we can fix something ourselves, or order take-out. If you want to take up cooking or baking as a hobby, I won't object if that is what it'll take to make you happy, but you are _not_ cooking us meals. I think we both know why you had to do that at the Dursley's and I will be here to assure you again and again until you believe me, that what the Dursley's did was wrong and their rules do not apply here."

"Okay." Harry relented for the moment, although he was still determined to beat everyone up so that they could have a nice, hot, and edible, breakfast in the morning before they left to go about their day.

"Come on, let's go before everyone drinks all the coffee, or worse, it actually becomes cold." Tony shuttered dramatically at the thought.

The two of them made the way into the busy and noisy kitchen.

Harry expected everyone to just ignore him like they had last night, but the lively conversation around him died as he wandered to the stove to grab whatever was being served for breakfast. It looked like oatmeal, but it had the consistency of almost dried cement. Harry nearly gagged at the thought of having to eat it, but he sucked it up and scooped a lump of the congealed grey substance that was supposed to pass for oatmeal and moved on.

Tony had more guts than Harry eyed the pot with unconcealed disgust and promptly bypassed it entirely for the coffee pot.

Pulling out a large cup, Tony filled it up to the brim and took a deep inhale of the coffee. Tony closed his eyes for a moment before opening and finding Harry observing him. Tony looked at him for a moment before a look of horror passed over his face.

"Oh, hell, kid. You drink tea, don't you?" Tony said, disregarding his cup of coffee as he began frantically searching the cupboards for any kind of tea.

"I don't have to drink tea. It's not a big deal."  
Tony whipped around empty-handed and stared at Harry in disbelief. "It's not a big deal? I thought all Brits liked their tea, like us Americans liked coffee?"  
"I do like tea, but I don't have to drink it. I could drink water instead." Harry eyed the coffee pot speculatively, "I'm sorry, but I've never tried coffee, and I honestly am not sure I want to."  
Tony shook his head, "What kind of tea do you like? Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Green tea? I need to know so I can get you some. What brand do you like? Shit, I can't believe I forgot this!" Tony groaned at his oversight.

Harry saw Steve and Bruce raise their eyebrows, probably at Tony's antics, and Clint roll his eyes. Natasha just stared at her phone, looking utterly uninterested in the conversation going on around her.  
"Um well, I usually drink black tea. I'm not overly picky; any kind will do." Harry said with a shrug.

"Just black tea? Isn't there a lot of different kinds of black tea out there?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter."

"Black tea. JARVIS, order the best black tea on the market. Any kind will do." Tony said in the same voice as before while looking at Harry to make sure he had gotten the order correct.

When Harry didn't correct him, he continued, "Do you take anything with it? Don't people usually add cream, honey, or something to it?" Harry was kind of surprised Tony knew so much about tea as all he'd seen Tony drink was coffee. But Harry supposed you could also add all that to coffee, so maybe it really wasn't that big of a surprise after all.

"Depending on the kind of tea, I sometimes add cream or a cube of sugar, but I can drink it plain too."  
"Okay. Are you sure you're fine without tea right now? I can always send Happy out to get you some?" Tony began pulling out his phone and posed to call Happy immediately.  
Harry fought the urge to roll his eyes. Tony _did_ know that they didn't drink tea with every meal, right? Case in point, at Hogwarts, they usually had pumpkin juice with their meals instead of tea. "I'm fine. I drink water too."

Tony looked uncertain, but it was Bruce who spoke up. "Tony, Harry has said he's fine without tea. You've ordered some, now sit down and drink your coffee. If Harry wants it, I am sure he will tell you."

Tony grabbed his now cooling cup of coffee and sat down. Taking a sip of it, he said, "You will tell me if you want some? I probably should have Happy pick some up anyway, just in case."

This time Harry really did roll his eyes as he poked his spoon experimentally at the hardened gray lump. It jiggled for a second before stilling- yeah, there was no way he'd be eating that.


End file.
